By; Abubakar Ahmed
Since the disclosure after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba insisting that the FG had done its part on poverty alleviation in the country; in response to the released document by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics that 133 million Nigerians are currently living in multidimensional poverty, reactions have trailed the disclosure especially from one of Nigeria’s tier of governments; the state governments under the auspices of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF. According to Agba, 72 percent of poverty in Nigeria was located in rural areas, which he said had been abandoned by governors. In his words: “They would rather build skyscrapers in a city where people will see and clap but the skyscrapers do not put food on the table”.
For the NGF, through its Spokesperson, Abdulrazaq Bello-Barkindo, the Minister’s comments were diversionary and a brazen descent into selective amnesia, tirade and not only preposterous and without any empirical basis, but also very far from the truth.” Barkindo insisted that Agba’s comments were a “veiled and deliberate effort to protect his paymasters and politicize very critical issues of national importance,” citing FG’s failure to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty as promised, and the inability of same to protect farmers from terrorists’ continuous inhuman acts.
In view of the foregoing and myriad of challenges confronting the country at the moment, which can best be described as a country in dire straits, it suffices to say that the debate is needless. But in terms of principle, none of the parties involved in the almost needless squabble are blameless as far as job creation and wealth creation is concerned.
Let us put the debate in appropriate context. As reported by SBM Intelligence, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said about 25.3 million people will face food insecurity across Nigeria between June and August 2023. The FAO in a statement warned that if actions are not taken to avert the crisis, 4.4 million people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States will be affected. The UN food agency in its October 2022 food and nutrition analysis said about 17 million people in the country were already facing a food crisis. These include Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and returnees in 26 states including the Federal Capital Territory.
The report said 3 million of them are living in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. Fundamentally, the reason why the country is entangled with food insecurity and the threat it poses to Nigerians is because the FG has failed to guarantee the security of lives and property as provided for under the Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), especially for those in rural areas and hinterland where substantial part of the agricultural production takes place. Ironically, over 70 percent of Nigerians are farmers with agriculture contributing over 20% of the country’s GDP.
In defense of the state governments, it is worthy of note that even the most effective state governments will still be hamstrung by the FG’s actions or inactions on areas that are firmly within its sole remit, and security of lives and property falls within this purview. There are state governments that have adopted the model of using infrastructural development as catalyst for job and wealth creation and poverty reduction. A clear example is Lagos, Rivers amongst others. But for a state like Kaduna for example, despite the current administration’s economic strides, the pervasive insecurity in the state, from banditry to herdsmen attacks and ethnic clashes, have made it difficult for the whole state to derive the benefits of a more streamlined government and increased investment which will in turn, translate into jobs and wealth for the citizens of the state.
In the same context of insecurity, considering that the phenomenon is more persistent in rural areas, it is possibly a reason, why state governments focus projects more in urban areas, assuming this were even true. But deliberate failure by state governments to evenly and inclusively distribute employment opportunities, undertake infrastructural development and implement programmes, is partly responsible for the heightened insecurity especially in northern part of Nigeria. This is further corroborated, deducing from the Communiqué of Northern Governors Forum in 2021 where it was agreed that Governors should be inclusive in execution of projects, programmes and distribution of opportunities. Perhaps, the continuous neglect of rural communities in all aspects of human endeavor by state governments in Nigeria is a recipe for more insecurity and social instability tendencies.
Secondly, in a federating unit like Nigeria, state governments are impacted by FG’s policies no matter their strides. For instance, the country’s apex bank, CBN, as the monetary authority which is clearly dancing to the FG’s tune despite its supposed independence as provided for under Section 1 of the CBN Establishment Act, its monetary policies such as land border closures and restricting access of food importers to official forex, has impacted the jobs of Nigerians that resides across the states in the country, especially those involved in such enterprises adding up to the numbers of poor and vulnerable citizens.
In terms of the lessons derivable from this fiasco, firstly, there are clear cut or easy answers to who exactly is responsible for the mass poverty in Nigeria; but certainly, addressing the root causes offers important insights on shared responsibility. In this light, the three tiers of government in the country should know that it is their shared responsibility to address the menace.
Secondly, there is the need for the FG through the federal legislature to devolve more powers and responsibilities to the state governments. The current Nigeria’s Constitution’s Concurrent List does not do much to address these issues as a result of the volume of items on the Exclusive List reserved for the federal government as well as the top-down approach in which governance and policy is carried out.
Thirdly, state governments and indeed Nigerians should know that the figure of 133 million poor Nigerians as released by NBS is an aggregate of the poor Nigerians spreading across the states and the nation’s capital, Abuja. Therefore, it will not be correct to push the blame solely to the FG.
Lastly, the federal government’s war against bandits now terrorists and other criminally minded has not done well enough to give farmers a fighting chance, especially in the northern part of the country. Even worse, the country’s ungoverned spaces especially in the North West and North Central parts, have been dominated by leaders of armed groups who extract a premium from farmers seeking to have access to their farms. And failure to pay that premium has often led to the death or abduction of the farmers, contributing to the country’s growing food insecurity.
It is therefore an elementary economics to note that when insecurity is added to natural disasters like flood and drought occasioned by climate variability in most parts which dominated headlines in Nigeria in 2022, the country’s level of poor and vulnerable people may likely grow, particularly as purchasing power and disposable income continue to dwindle, forcing Nigerians to either adjust their lifestyle and spending limits or dig deep into their pockets as overwhelmingly majority have turn their attention to putting food on the table in order to get the daily full meals.
Abubakar Ahmed, a Political Journalist with Liberty Television and Radio, writes this piece from Kaduna.
