Escaping extreme poverty: Nigeria needs to do more

Here’s a fact, despite Thursday’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, almost 600 million people around the World live in extreme poverty with more than half of them coming from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Poverty poses many threats to a Nation and the lives of individuals in general. A lot of people engage in many atrocities which most times can be traced to poverty. What else can be as saddening and unpleasant to a man who wakes with very little hope of what to eat, no clothes to warm him up in the cold days and a place to call home or a roof over his head? It is unquestionable that crime ranks high amongst the effect of poverty.

Poverty is endemic to Nigeria. Nigeria was rated the world poorest country in June 2018, overtaking India whose population is seven times larger than Nigeria. According to Oxfam, an international non-governmental organisation, 94.5 million people living in extreme poverty. However, what is more disturbing is that at the current rate, it is estimated that 120 million Nigerians will be extremely poor in 2030. That is they will live below the international poverty line that is currently at $1.90 per day.

Despite this grim reality, there has been very little (if any) results to whatever the government is doing to tackle the poverty problem in Nigeria with its different economic and social intervention programmes. The poor are getting poorer and the very few that escape extreme poverty easily fall back into it due to varying issues from food insecurity to poor healthcare services.

There should be a continuous investment in finding a long-lasting and permanent solution to poverty. Social amenities should be provided to improve the quality of lives of people.