Tackling poverty in Nigeria

Nigeria’s average growth rate in the last decade is in the region of 7-8 percent, even though the economy has slowed in the last three quarters, recording only 2.35 percent growth in the second quarter of this year. Yet the benefits of this impressive economic growth of the last decade have not been shared across the country’s vast population. Going by World Bank definition of poverty – living on less than $1.25 a day in purchasing power parity terms – Nigeria’s poverty rate climbed from 63 percent in 2004 to 68 percent in 2010.

The Nigerian condition is worrisome. Unemployment rates are in staggering double digits, housing conditions in urban and rural Nigeria are dismal with the country still recorded as having one of the highest open defecation rates. Safe potable water is a rare facility, and access to reliable health care is still limited to only a few. Nigerians are still victims of many health conditions that are related to poverty. Many children are in school yet they acquire little or no learning.

Clearly, it has become evident that a multi-party democratic system in place continually in the last 16 years, bereft of vision, could not deliver Nigerians from sinking deeper into poverty. With massive public sector corruption typified in stolen billions and multiple leakages in the system, an industrial sector limited by a harsh business environment, a regulatory system that preys on economic operators, and an educational system that does not guarantee proper learning, Nigeria’s journey out of poverty may remain far-fetched.

As the President Muhammadu Buhari administration records its first 100 days, the expectations of Nigerians are high, especially in the areas of improving remarkably the human development index, and reducing poverty manifesting in high unemployment rates, poor knowledge and work skills, rickety healthcare system, poor housing conditions and spiralling cost of food items. Same goes for state governments across the federation.

We need to emphasise that true governance starts with a system that attracts true leaders with workable plans that are continually monitored to ensure that the Nigerian system experiences sustainable growth and development with a significant and steady improvement on living standards for all. Nigerians require leaders who are motivated by the passion to improve the living standards of all.

The emerging governance environment that signals a zero tolerance for public corruption gives hope that a system that will manage resources judiciously is about to emerge. But this signal should not be a flash in the pan or a power consolidation strategy by the APC-led Federal Government. Government must go beyond the fight against corrupt public officials or plugging of leakages and create deliberate plans for saving Nigerians from the murky and foul waters of poverty.

The Federal Government, collaborating with state governments across the country, should frontally and strategically tackle poverty in all ramifications. Safety nets should be provided for the weak, while guaranteeing access to basic infrastructural provisions that empower and enhance the quality of living for all. Nigerians are waiting anxiously.