Poverty And Finger-pointing

The report by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that 133 million Nigerians are poor has sparked a finger- pointing contest between the federal and state governments. The NBS had said the poverty index is mostly experienced in rural areas especially in the north with women and children being the most affected.

The survey was conducted by the Bureau, the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

However, the federal government, through the minister of state for budget and national planning, Clement Agba, blamed the high poverty rate in the country on the failure of the state governments to contribute their quota of development responsibilities.

According to him, the federal government, through many of its social security programmes, has been dedicating resources to alleviating hardship among the populace and alleged that state governments, despite the fact that they have been receiving their shares of national resources, have been misdirecting the resource to projects that have almost no direct effect on the needs of the people.

He further said that 72 per cent of the poverty in Nigeria is found in the rural areas, which he said had been abandoned by governors whom he accused of a preference to function in the state capitals.

On their part, the governors countered by saying that it was the federal government that has abandoned its promise and primary responsibility to the citizens. Describing the minister’s assertions as diversionary, the governors said it is the responsibility of the federal government to provide security for the citizens.

The said chief executives pointed out that it was as a result of the worsening insecurity in the country that people in the rural areas were forced to abandon their farms. They also asserted that it was the federal government that promised to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty and not them.

In the considered opinion of this newspaper, the blame-storming is needless and diversionary. Indeed, the reality is that 133 million Nigerians are poor and there are enough blames to go around. What should be paramount on the minds of the federal and state governments is how to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.

There is no doubt that the ravaging insecurity, especially in the rural areas, has contributed immensely to the rising number of poor people in the country. The food insecurity, in turn, has contributed to the galloping inflation.

Needless to say, Nigeria has no business having 133 million extremely poor citizens with its abundant human and natural resources. To be sure, Nigeria is the seventh largest oil producer in the world and it’s an anomaly that a majority of its citizens are living in penury an embarrassment that is not acceptable.

Similarly, Nigeria boasts of over 40 different solid minerals at approximately 450 locations. Each of these 40 solid minerals can generate considerable wealth for states.

This again bring us to the issue of leadership. There are 133 million extremely poor Nigerians because of the failure of leadership at all levels. We aver that the ongoing finger-pointing is another proof of the failure of leadership. Those government officials should use the time spent on proving who is wrong in doing what is right, which is, finding solutions to the plight of Nigerians caught in the poverty web.

In our opinion, no tier of government has covered itself with glory. They all share in the blame of the rising poverty in the country. The blame games must stop.

However, as we have previously canvassed on this page, there is a need for financial autonomy for the local governments to fastrack development at the grassroots. But most governors have the penchant for not conducting local government elections in their states and instead prefer to appoint their stooges as caretaker chairmen and councilors.

As the nation approaches the general election cycle next year, there is a need to elect quality leaders at all levels. A single individual cannot change the fortunes of the country. Most Nigerians are fixated on the presidency to the detriment of other important elective positions. There is an urgency in the people’s expectation that, if well directed, will bring about a paradigm shift which will hopefully bring into office men and women with the capacity to turn things around for good.

Furthermore, to lift millions of Nigeria out of poverty is not the sole responsibility of any tier of government. It needs the collaborations of local, state, and federal governments. The ravaging insecurity can be tamed when all the tiers of government collaborate and complement each other.