…Poverty index now to be used for resource allocation – Buhari
The Federal Government has disclosed that 63 percent of persons within Nigeria, 133 million, are living in poverty.
The figure was presented during the launch of Nigeria’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey in Abuja, yesterday.
It was conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 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).
The measure used to calculate the figure was based on the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), with five components of health, living standard, education, security and unemployment.
The survey, which sampled over 56,000 households across the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT, conducted between November 2021 and February 2022, States that 65% of the poor, 86 million people, live in the North, while 35%, nearly 47 million live in the South.
It identified Sokoto State as having the most poverty levels across States, with 91%, while Ondo has the lowest, with 27%.
Speaking at the event, President Muhammadu Buhari said the index was adopted because it provides ways poverty could be identified and tackled with policies. Buhari was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
Meanwhile, President Buhari, on Wednesday, disclosed that henceforth, the report of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (NMPI) would be used to allocate resources for national development.
Speaking at the launch of the NMPI in Abuja, the president who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, also noted that the NMPI would be integrated into the National Social Register to facilitate better targeting for social intervention.
At the federal level, these results will be used to influence the allocation of resources going forward, particularly to target sectors where most citizens suffer deprivations.
“The MPI is not our only data on poverty; combining the insights provided by MPI results with data from the income poverty measurement, it provides a holistic picture of poverty, and helps to shape the path towards shared prosperity”, he said.
According to the president, the multidimensional way of understanding poverty has been helpful in highlighting beyond monetary/income-based poverty measurements, the stark realities of poverty in each state and across the 109 senatorial districts.
