Alleviating acute poverty

An indication of the concern of the present administration to the acute poverty of Nigerians was recently given by the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, when he hosted the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). Observing that two thirds of Nigerians are poor, while as many as between 80% […]

An indication of the concern of the present administration to the acute poverty of Nigerians was recently given by the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, when he hosted the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). Observing that two thirds of Nigerians are poor, while as many as between 80% and 90% of children in some communities are out of school with infrastructural decay attaining an unimaginable level, he blamed the situation on some policies of past governments which disempowered the people. According to him “governments have not been accountable to the people otherwise policies should have had roots in the real conditions of the people”.
Osinbajo’s conversation with the NIPSS Alumni at this point in time is most auspicious. The NIPSS is Nigeria’s foremost leadership training institution which adopts as its motto the fostering of a better Nigerian society. This aspiration is embedded in its vision which is to be “the apex centre of policy, research and reflection for a better Nigerian and human society”. In the same vein its mission is “to serve as the centre for policy, advocacy, advice and training for Nigeria and Africa in the context of a dynamic and changing world”. It is by the same reason that the NIPSS has as its regular course participants, the top echelon of the nation’s public service who’s brief is to formulate and implement government policies.
Against the backdrop of the fore going therefore, the vice president could not have engaged a more relevant body of stakeholders over the linkage between poorly formulated policies and growing poverty in the land. Without equivocation his message directs the onus of promoting poverty in the country, to the acts of commission and omission of some of the members of the NIPSS Alumni. More painful is the fact that in spite of the acuity of the pangs of poverty in the land, the issue hardly directs considerations on public policy formulation and implementation.
Poverty is a multi-dimensional issue which connotes a violation of the humanity of the victim. The World Bank describes it as manifesting as lack of opportunity to participate in the economic life of the society, lack of empowerment which limits the choice of options for the victim, and lack of security which renders the poor vulnerable to the vicissitudes of life. These are clearly areas of public life which appropriate policies by government can and should address, towards building a better Nigerian society. Hence to consider that two out of every three Nigerians are trapped in this circle of lack remains a poor testimonial for the various previous governments.
Yet the lament by the vice president, well placed as it is, still defines a new obligation for the present government to do things in a different way in order to fulfill its promise of fostering change in the public life of the country. Having clearly identified the weakness of past policies, the vision of the vice president offers a well-defined path for the policy initiatives of the administration especially with respect to poverty reduction across the land.
The fight against poverty goes beyond the distribution of money to a few selected beneficiaries. Rather a resort to the development of basic infrastructure and social services such as good roads, accessible health and educational facilities as well as other platforms for public good will even tone down the scramble for money, and promote healthy social relationships. 
The All Progressives Congress (APC) which is the political party in power had raised the issue of poverty alleviation as one of its campaign promises. Now that it is in power and office the opportunity for delivering on this promise has arrived. The party leaders can consolidate on the fortunes of their mandate by taking Nigeria outside the vicious circle of mass disempowerment which is the root cause of much of the social maladies that plague the country today.