As bad governance, unchecked population growth, others fueling poverty trap
As part of solutions for Nigeria to end its poverty trap, the country requires about N5 to N7 trillion yearly to fund the operation of a thorough well-managed social security system.
Experts are of the view that Nigeria with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $440 billion and being the largest economy in Africa, but caught in a deep poverty cycle, rethinking social protection that is well-organised, expertly planned and supported by national law remained necessary.
A report on ‘Nigeria’s Poverty Trap – And How To End It’ by the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation (IGET), identified poorly designed social protection measures, limited coverage, lack of consistency, lack of data and corruption as some of the causes of inadequate social protection.
It stated that such a comprehensive social protection system needed to be independently and expertly examined, reviewed and monitored to stop leaks caused by fraud and corruption.
According to the report, implementing the measures while incorporating structural reforms will increase the chances of controlling the rise of poverty as a “growth industry” in the short term, while structural reforms will start to show results in the medium term.
The report, which was authored by IGET Founder and President, Kingsley Moghalu and a Research Fellow at IGET, Damian Ude, said the country’s poverty trap was brought about by a failure of nationhood and governance.
It listed reasons such as inequality and marginalisation, conflict, lack of education and skills; lack of employment or other means of support, high food prices that reduce their purchasing power, the effects of climate change such as floods and droughts, lack of savings, inadequate social welfare and social security programmes provided by the government and unchecked population growth as reasons people live in poverty.
They argued that it was because the political elite had placed a considerably greater emphasis on self-serving state capture for patronage and sectarian interests than on a sincere desire to end poverty.
According to them, a broken and corrupt political system has created the wrong priorities.
They lamented that sectarian interests and the dominant partisan political reward system combine to supersede knowledge and competence in public policy. They said it has also steadily undermined state capacity and state institutions, encouraging knowledge gaps and incompetence in key decision-making positions.
It recalled the World Bank report that 95 million Nigerians will be considered extremely poor by 2022, up from the current national average of 89 million or 43 per cent of the population.
