It is no longer news that Nigeria is now the country with the poorest number of people in the world. The position was occupied before by India. According to World Poverty Clock by World Data Lab, 89 million (43%) people live in extreme poverty in Nigeria. Poverty is not only found in a particular country. It is found the world over but is endemic in Africa and elsewhere. Several factors have been cited as causes of poverty.
Some people are poor as a result of laziness, physical deformity or disability, poor health, lack of education, ‘voluntary poverty’ (in which case people such as monks avoid material possessions in order to have peace of mind/enhance spiritual progress). Other causes of poverty are debt burden, corruption, overpopulation, unemployment, inadequate/underutilization of resources.
Brian-Vincent Ikejiaku in his work titled ‘The Poverty-Conflict Nexus: The Contentious Issue Revisited’, finds a nexus (connection/relationship) between poverty and conflict. He is of the opinion that just as poverty causes conflict, conflict also causes poverty, and, that both poverty and conflict can negatively affect development. The displacement of people due to conflict in Northern Nigeria which has caused hardship for the displaced persons is a case in point.
To my mind, the major causes of poverty in Nigeria are corruption, poor policy implementation and lack of good policies. There are many good policies in Nigeria. The problem is poor implementation of policies. Corruption in Nigeria has become quite much so much so that every facet of development-education, infrastructure etc. is negatively affected. Nigeria has had several good initiatives aimed at reducing poverty level. Such initiatives include Operation Feed the Nation, NAPEP- National Poverty Eradication Programme, Better Life for Rural Women and others. Instead of continuing and reworking these initiatives to improve them, people in government just discontinue them unnecessarily.
Poverty has negative effects. Poverty is what made many ladies go into prostitution, people to become internet fraudsters (cyber fraud). Poverty also increases corruption. Hunger and lack are no respecters of persons. Many people who engage in dishonest acts do so because of poverty. Poverty can also result in migration. Migration has caused Nigeria brain drain. Brain drain is the departure of educated or professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another area\country usually for better pay or living conditions. In other words, brain drain is the emigration of highly trained or qualified or any other people from a particular place to another place by people to improve their lives. Poverty can also cause some other crimes such as stealing, kidnapping, armed robbery and others.
There are solutions to poverty. First and foremost, governments at all levels have to be decisive when it comes to dealing with corruption. Government officials and other people steal humongous or huge amounts of money and misappropriate resources which could or should have been used to better or improve the lives of Nigerians. Once a person is found guilty of misappropriation of funds or resources, he/she should be jailed and the resources in question or at issue be seized and used judiciously for the people. Punishment should be commensurate with offence.
I cannot understand why many good ideas aimed at reducing poverty in Nigeria are discontinued. This should not be the case. We need to come up with well-thought-out poverty reduction initiatives or policies which should be well implemented. One key or important thing Nigeria needs to do in order to plan for its people’s welfare is to know Nigeria’s exact population. It is about time we conducted a credible census. Through population figures, we can know the number of the unemployed, elderly people, students and other sets of people that need financial and other support. I have read about some good development plans in Nigeria in the past. These days, policy-makers seem not to be bothered about development plans. We must plan well in order to develop appreciably. The National Development Plan should be time-bound, that is, completed by a specified deadline or within a specified period of time and should be realistic or practicable.
Of great importance is the provision of social welfare (known as social security in other countries). Social security is the provision of periodic/regular financial and other support (benefit) to the needy/people in need. Social welfare packages can come in form of financial and material support for the unemployed, the elderly and other people. The United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada offer great examples in that regard. In the aforementioned countries, there are designated places where people can get free food and other things they cannot afford. Loans with considerable single-digit interest rate or interest-free loans should be given to people who are willing to start a business. Jobs or enabling condition should be provided which will make it possible for Nigerians to live quality lives. We should be proactive when it comes to dealing with conflict meaning conflict should be prevented. Furthermore, we should make Nigeria conducive to living by providing important things such as electricity, roads, bridges, potable water, health facilities, modern transportation system and other things. For me, electricity, quality education, job creation and social security are the most important. Regular electricity/power supply can have tremendous impact. It just beats me why Nigeria still cannot provide regular electricity in spite of its abundant financial and human resources. Education and vocational training are good for personal development. We should make quality education available and affordable for or to Nigerians. This should be supported by vocational training.
It is not only the people in government that can and should reduce poverty, we all should help other people whichever way we can by giving money, time, clothes, other things that we have but do not need. We can also assist people by imparting knowledge to them. Let us help Nigerians live quality lives. When we do, we will spend less money on security problems. Overall, we will all be good for it.
- Michael, a writer and public affairs analyst, wrote in via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
