A Research On Poverty In Nigeria -By Olokor Kpezi Christabel

Statistically, as of 2019, most of the world’s  population live in poverty: in PPP dollars, 85% of people live on less than $30 per day, two-thirds live on less than $1.90 per day now changed to $2.15/day (extreme poverty).

According to the World Bank Group in 2020, more than 40% of the poor live in conflict-affected countries.

The international policy frameworks for poverty alleviation,  established by the United Nations in 2015, are summarized in Sustainable Development Goal 1: “No Poverty.”

According to National Bureau of Statistics:

-63% of persons living within Nigeria (133 million people) are multi-dimensionally poor.

-65% of the poor (86 million people ) live in the North, while 35% (nearly 47 million ) live in the South.

-Multidimensional poverty is higher in rural areas, where 72% of people are poor, compared to 42% of people in urban areas.

It is very clearly expressed in the above statements the nature of the problem Nigeria is dealing with. Also, is pivotal to the status quo of Nigeria as a developing country the issue expressed above. Poverty not only affects individual lives of the populace but the status quo of the nation it is found in.

To better communicate the gravity or enormity of poverty, the effects are listed below:

1. Poor Health: As a result of poverty, adequate health infrastructures are not put in place, and when they are, the populace cannot afford the economic demands or financial demands for these services. Also the poor cannot afford good and safe food leading to food and water related diseases. They also cannot afford good houses which expose them to disease carrying and spreading insects and vectors.
2. Conflict and Social Tension: It brings about class conflict and struggle where the minority rich and the majority poor are in a constant unhealthy conflict and rivalry.
3. High Level of Illiteracy: When majority of the populace cannot meet or afford the economic demands for sound and quality education, there will be mass illiteracy in the country which leads more often than not to low standard of living.

These and so much more are the threatening and adverse effects of poverty in Nigeria and the world at large.

Now over to what the source and root of these effects really is: What is Poverty?

What is Poverty?

According to UN, “Poverty entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods.”

According to Britannica, “Poverty is the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.”

According to Wikipedia, “Poverty is a state or condition in which one lacks the financial resources and essentials for a certain standard of living.”

According to the World Bank,  “A person is considered poor if his or her income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs.”

In order to eradicate poverty or bring it to it’s barest minimum at least, its causes need to be known in order for solutions to be provided and preventive measures or steps can be taken.

Some of the causes include:

Remedies to the Poverty Issue.

Prevention/Preventive Measures for Poverty.

In a situation where poverty has been curbed or reduced to barest minimum, it should be maintained,  hence the need for preventive measures. These measures include in a summarized note: Improving the training of the agricultural sector to ensure current knowledge of the latest technologized and mechanized trends and techniques of all branches of agriculture. This  yields better output for the agricultural economy and the larger economy. Health care should also be top notch and top most priority of the government, because as the saying goes “ a healthy man is a wealthy man,” more like a healthy labour force provides for healthy returns (a healthy economy).Education should also not be relegated to the back seat in Nigeria, as well as current world wide trainings and skill acquisition programmes which broaden the scope of opportunities for  economic growth.