Taking 100m Nigerians out of poverty

President Buhari has promised to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years. Of course he only has 3 years to do so given that his second and last tenure is already one year gone. Set against the background of prevailing poverty in Nigeria, this assertion is like graveside humour to […]

President Buhari has promised to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years. Of course he only has 3 years to do so given that his second and last tenure is already one year gone. Set against the background of prevailing poverty in Nigeria, this assertion is like graveside humour to many Nigerians. And they are not amused. They are not amused because the actions and policies of government point rather to the sustenance of the prevailing socio-political economy, which itself brought about existing despicable scenarios of poverty in the country. Only recently, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) declared that by The World Poverty Clock, Nigeria, overtaking India, has become the world’s poverty capital of the world. Nigeria, the report concluded, is the country with the most extreme poor people in the whole world. The population of poor Nigerians living in extreme poverty was placed at 86.9 million, representing nearly 50% of its estimated 180 million people. The projection for the future is that Nigeria will become the world’s third largest country by 2050 with the poverty problem only more likely to worsen. Government has accused international bodies of peddling falsehood about the country, even though ground realities give credence to the conclusions of global organisations.

But I take President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice Yemi Osinbajo seriously and I believe that it is only a leadership question. If our leaders take resolute steps and especially lead by example, the dream to lift 100m out of poverty in the next 10 years is possible. Hear the erudite scholar and Emir of Kano Sanusi II. “In 1974, when Deng Xiaoping started opening up in China, there were 700 million Chinese living in extreme poverty. Today, that number is down to only 30 million people in one generation. In 1974, China had only 8million university graduates. Today, China has more than 300 million university graduates, more than the entire population of the United States of America.“

Sanusi believes our hindrance is in the choices our leaders make, and I might add, the political will they commit to what they pronounce . Sanusi II charges that while we have only paltry sums allocated to education, health, nutrition, and other more impactful sectors, we allocate N1 trillion or N2 trillion to spend on petroleum subsidies, showing our misplaced sense of what is important.

In explaining the Government’s methodology for the task, Osinbajo said the target will be achieved through collaborating with the state governors, using the Federal Government’s National Micro and Medium Enterprises scheme, that is designed to develop the business of petty traders and reduce poverty in the country. This means that we are more likely to see Government dolling out cash bundles of N10,000 to N20,000 to petty traders in hope to develop their business. To date, we have not seen credible reports on the past efforts so far but indications are that beneficiaries of the earlier tranches of Trader Moni are still poor, and have not made refunds that would have qualified them for the increased grant of N20,000. This begs the question – is this how 100m Nigerians will be lifted out of poverty? Nigerians are justifiably sceptical and have no confidence that poverty can be tackled this way without looking at the whole big picture.

Already the system of remuneration for politicians in and out of office only widens the gap between the rich and the poor in an economy in which wealth does not seem to come from production of any goods but from excessive remuneration that sees politicians wealthier than industrialists. Emir Sanusi II has his finger on the pulse. Fund education and skills acquisition particularly targeting the girl child in the North, and you can trigger a slowing down of the population growth trend when educated girls say no to early marriage and resist polygamy. Increase funding of health and nutrition to impact quality of life as opposed to funding subsidy for appeasement of pillaging political patrons.

One reason the enrichment efforts of the government may come to naught is that the programs playing out are alien to the perception of the society of their needs. If you empower traders with cash doll outs of N10,000 and grant farmers access to anchor borrowing without addressing the vagaries arising from their insecurity, poor health, and inabilities to address mundane family commitments, you can hardly attain the desired success goals. Sadly our poor have no say in what the government is offering to them. If they did, their wishes might be different – wishes they could identify with and support to their own benefit and to the success of government. Our local farmers do not ever aspire to own tractors and implements, but can readily appreciate work bulls, ploughs and harrows, and trailing wagons. If State governments, rather than buy 3 tractors per local government, instead, set aside dedicated funding to cooperative farmers registered for the acquisition of work bulls, ploughs and harrows, and trailing wagons, there can be certainty that production in farms will be enhanced and food security more quickly achieved, with more likelihood that loans are repaid. In a comprehensive development program Nigeria can effectively liberate poor folks from the shackles of poverty using home grown solutions.

The ambition of government to take 10m people out of poverty every year is possible, but only if the Buhari government gets the approach right, and subsequent regimes build on it. It is not a one shoe size that fits all communities in our diversity. There must be different prescriptions for each community.  A holistic approach is demanded that immediately reduces the currently excessive cost of governance, and empowers the local citizenry in such a way that ensures overall oneness through political inclusion.