Poverty eats deeper in Nigeria amidst plenty

Poverty eats deeper in Nigeria amidst plenty Poverty in Nigeria is rising, with 112 million (60.9% of the 163 million population poor, despite 7.6 gross domestic product (GDP) growth recorded in Africa’s second largest economy in 2011, data from National Bureau of Statistics showed recently. The percentage of Nigerians living in abject poverty – those who can afford only the bare essentials of food, shelter and clothing – rose to 60.9 percent in 2010.The bureau predicted this rising trend was likely to continue. Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer but the sector has been tainted by accusations of corruption. According to the report, absolute poverty is measured by the number of people who can afford only the bare essentials of shelter, food and clothing. The NBS, a government agency, said there was a paradox at the heart of Nigeria as the economy was going from strength to strength, mainly because of oil production - yet Nigerians were getting poorer. Despite the fact that the Nigerian economy is growing, the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty is increasing every year, although it declined between 1985 and 1992, and between 1996 and 2004.Statistic show that in 1980 about 17.1 million were living in poverty, while in 1985 34.7 million entered the poverty level , in 1992 it increased to 39.2 million Nigerians, while in 1996: 67.1 million it increased to 68.7million in 2004 and in 2010 went up to 112.47 million Nigerians Oil accounts for some 80% of Nigeria's state revenues but it has hardly any capacity to refine crude oil into fuel, which has to be imported. Last month, there was a nationwide strike when the government tried to remove the subsidy on fuel, angering many Nigerians who see it as the only benefit they received from the country's vast oil wealth. The NBS said that relative poverty was most apparent in the north of the country, with Sokoto state's poverty rate the highest at 86.4%. In the north-west and north-east of the country poverty rates were recorded at 77.7% and 76.3% respectively, compared to the south-west at 59.1%. The report also revealed that Nigerians consider themselves to be getting poorer. In 2010, 93.9% of respondents felt themselves to be poor compared to 75.5% six years earlier. Nigeria has been in stagnation and relative decline since 1981, from a per capita GDP of US$1,200 in 1981 to about US$300 in 2000. In 1992, 34.1 percent of the population was below the poverty line, according to the CIA World Factbook 2000 ; about 70 percent fell below that line in 2000, according to the World Bank. For many Nigerians the quality of life has declined rather than improved since independence 40 years ago. By contrast, the standard of living for a few privileged Nigerians—military officers and their civilian associates, corrupt politicians, and big contractors—has improved substantially. The average salaried worker cannot earn enough to support a family because of inflation and rises in food prices and transportation costs. The national minimum wage of N18,000 (about US$105.00) per month, adopted by the federal government but rejected by most of the states, falls far short of what is needed to cover housing, food, education, health care and transportation. The material condition of women, who comprise 50 percent of the population, is even worse than that of men because the welfare of women in general, including education, political participation, and workforce, had been neglected over the years until recently. The incidence of prostitution of Nigerian women within and outside the country has therefore increased. It is no wonder, given these prevailing conditions, that hypertension has become a major sickness among Nigerians since the 1980s. Housing and living facilities for the wealthy are very similar to those available to their counterparts in countries of the western world. Middle and lower-level income groups in the urban and rural areas live in individual houses or crowded flats (apartments). Rural dwellers live in cement or mud block houses with tin or thatched roofs, and have no running water for the most part. Water and electricity services in the major cities are erratic. Water supplies in many rural areas are infested with disease-carrying worms, while electricity services, under government auspices, are seldom available. We urge Government to wake up to it responsibilities and fight poverty headlong paying lip service through its many anti poverty agencies like NAPEP and its like is no longer working. They should provide Electricity, Housing, Hospitals, Schools for its teeming populace.