<
https://theconversation.com/one-in-two-nigerians-live-in-poverty-why-relief-programmes-have-failed-263827>
"Poverty in Nigeria has reached critical levels, recent data shows. About 31%
of Nigerians lived in poverty prior to the COVID-19 epidemic. Since then, an
additional 42 million have become poor, increasing the poverty rate to about
46% in 2024.
Over 133 million people are living in multidimensional poverty, despite
government efforts to reduce hardship.
Multidimensional poverty means being deprived of wellbeing in several ways. It
goes beyond income.
The national Multidimensional Poverty Index indicates that 67.5% of children in
Nigeria aged 0-17 are poor. And half of all poor Nigerians – 51% – are
children.
Over the years, successive governments have tried a number of things to reduce
poverty.
The National Poverty Eradication Programme was established in 2001 and the
Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme in 2012. The National Social
Investment Programme was introduced in 2016.
Yet poverty levels have continued to rise. The question is why.
I am a political scientist whose research looks at the intersections of
legislative oversight, poverty alleviation and conflict dynamics.
I recently conducted a study which examined why government poverty alleviation
programmes in Nigeria have under-performed.
The study focused on the responsibility of lawmakers to hold governments
accountable, and how this fits with Nigeria’s poverty alleviation agenda. It
examined how poverty programmes are designed, implemented and evaluated.
The findings showed that poverty persists not because of a lack of programmes
but because of governance failures. Three factors stood out: weak legislative
accountability, political interference, and the absence of people-centred
policy designs."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
