As More Nigerians Slip into Extreme Poverty…
As I pen this piece, kerosene, the cooking fuel of the masses, sells for between N250 and N280 per litre in Lagos. It is much higher outside Lagos. The masses have been spending more in the last three and half years to fuel their kerosene stoves. It has been a big battle for survival for them as the prices of goods and services skyrocket, dragging many into extreme poverty. So, it did not come as a surprise when the World Poverty Clock reported that over 1.1 million Nigerians slipped into extreme poverty just in four months – June, July, August and September - this year. This has brought the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty (below $1.90 a day) to more than 88 million.
In June 2018, the Brookings Institution named Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world, with 86.9 million extremely poor people. Nigeria overtook India as the world poverty capital, despite being six times smaller in population than the Asian country.
According to the World Poverty Clock, created by Vienna-based World Data Lab, 88,011,759 Nigerians are currently living in extreme poverty. The World Bank, IMF, United Nations, and major development institutions across the world are forecasting that Nigeria will not hit the 2030 target for ending global poverty. This is because the responses to poverty reduction by our governments at all levels have been feeble.
The federal government in particular, has deliberately pushed many into poverty due to its flawed economic policies, programmes and raging insecurity. A good example here is the plight of millions of displaced Nigerians living in extreme poverty in IDP camps across the country. They have been pushed into extreme poverty by the raging insecurity.
The World Poverty Clock reports: “The outlook for poverty alleviation in Nigeria is currently weak, with nearly six people slipping into extreme poverty every minute. Nevertheless, the overall effect will be muted; by 2030 we estimate the percentage of Nigeria’s population living in extreme poverty will increase from 44.2% to 45.5%, representing a total of some 120 million people living under $1.90 per day.”
While poverty in India continues to fall, Nigeria wallows in darkness, rising fuel and food prices, disease, insecurity, hunger, unemployment and malnutrition, all leading to more people falling into extreme poverty.
The truth be told without sentiment; the economy handed over to the Buhari administration was a fairly good one with consistent growth in GDP and industrial capacity utilisation. Under Obasanjo, late Yar’Adua and Jonathan, industrialists and SMEs were running their businesses with little encumbrances. The Naira was fairly strong and stable. The forex policy was also friendly to industrialists. That was why industrial capacity went up in the last three years of the Jonathan administration.
So, how well-managed has this country been under wailing Buhari and Osinbajo? Are there positive stories to tell in areas like the value of our currency, economy, electricity, fuel prices, manufacturing, job creation and so on? The truth is that this administration squandered virtually all the gains of its predecessors. I challenge pro-Buhari activists to point to a single tangible achievement of this administration in critical sectors like security, education, health, road, economy, power and housing. Even the President and his family members are flown abroad regularly to enjoy foreign medicals.
This government brought pain, blood and tears to Nigerians, with thousands of businesses and manufacturers gasping for breath, while millions of Nigerians lost their jobs. The Naira, our symbol of nationhood has never had it so bad. At a point, it was trading for as high as N520/$. This is the same Naira Buhari inherited at about N220/$. Which corruption is bigger than buying petrol at N145 per litre? Which corruption is bigger than plunging Nigeria into unprecedented foreign debt? What do we have to show for all these borrowings?
Nigerians continue to be ranked among the poorest globally. So, what has this government done about this in almost four years? Is Buhari unaware of the country’s rising unemployment figures?
Any serious government would have ensured a robust engagement of these unemployment and poverty figures. Now, Nigeria has surpassed India as the country with the largest number of people living in life-threatening poverty despite the fact that India’s population is almost four times that of Nigeria’s. This is another insignia of disgrace that should task Buhari and his cohorts. Our President should concentrate on pragmatic steps to pull more Nigerians out of poverty instead of regaling us with skewed anticorruption stories. Forward-looking Nigerians are tired of these monkeyshines.