Tag: POVERTY

FG blames states, LGAs for rising poverty in Nigeria

Aminu Imam
Presidency on Gbaja2

The Federal Government has shifted responsibility for Nigeria’s growing poverty crisis to state governments and local government councils. Officials in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration said the burden of addressing multidimensional poverty does not rest on the Federal Government alone. They argued that state and local governments are constitutionally responsible for providing basic services that can lift citizens out of hardship. This position comes amid public concern over reports that about 133 million Nigerians are living in multidimensional poverty. Recall that on Wednesday, the Special Adviser to the President on…

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‘Over 140m Nigerians may become poorer by December’ – PwC

Aminu Imam
PwC on poverty

Poverty levels in Nigeria are expected to worsen significantly over the next two years, with as many as 141 million Nigerians, representing about 62% of the population, projected to be living in poverty by 2026, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The projection is contained in PwC’s Nigeria Economic Outlook 2026, released yesterday titled: ‘Turning Macro-economic Stability into Sustainable Growth’, which warns that recent policy adjustments aimed at stabilising the economy are yet to translate into tangible welfare gains for households. PwC noted that weak real income growth, combined with persistently high…

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“Nigeria has 2nd-highest number of poor people globally” – Former NBS boss, Yemi Kale

Aminu Imam
Ex NBS boss, Yemi Kale

Former Statistician-General of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Yemi Kale, says approximately 89 million people, or 40% of Nigeria’s population, now live below the poverty line. Kale, currently the group’s Chief Economist and Managing Director of research and trade intelligence at Afreximbank, spoke at ‘The Platform’ Nigeria’s Independence Day event, themed: ‘Rebuilding Our Nation’. According to the economist, Nigeria is the country with the second-highest number of poor people globally after India. “To grasp the magnitude of this number, we can consider that fewer than 20 of the world’s…

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Catholic Bishops lament Nigeria’s worsening poverty

Aminu Imam
Catholic Bishops lament

The Catholic Bishops of the Lagos, Ecclesiastical province, have called on the federal government to transition from short-term palliative measures to sustainable empowerment strategies aimed at improving the quality of life for Nigerians. In a communiqué issued at the end of their first plenary meeting for 2025, the Bishops expressed deep concern over the state of the nation. Highlighting the need to address the underlying structures that perpetuate poverty and inequality in the country, the Bishops emphasised the importance of implementing long-term solutions to enable financial independence and restore dignity…

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More than half of Nigerians live in poverty’ – World Bank

Aminu Imam
W'Bank on poverty

The World Bank has said reforms undertaken by Nigerias government are essential, but have piled pressure on its people, more than half of whom live in poverty. Since coming to power in May 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has introduced reforms aimed at reviving the economy of Africas most populous nation. Measures include the liberalisation of the battered naira currency and cutting fuel subsidies, which allowed the state to keep gasoline prices low for decades. In a report published on Thursday, the World Bank said, The new policy direction is…

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“Poverty, unemployment, breeding grounds for violence, extremism” AbdulSalami

Aminu Imam
Abdulsalami Abubakar

Former Head of State, Gen. AbdulSalami Abubakar (rtd) has said poverty and unemployment are breeding grounds for violence and extremism. AbdulSalami stated this yesterday during the celebration of the ‘International Day of Peace 2024’, which held at the Lecture Hall of the AbdulSalami Abubakar Institute for Peace and Sustainability Development Studies, Minna, Niger State. According to him, Peace is the bedrock of any nations progress. Without peace, development is stifled, opportunities are lost, and society stagnates. The former Nigerian leader further said, Today, Nigeria faces numerous challenges that threaten the…

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“North faces existential threat from poverty, insecurity” – Uba Sani to ACFSays proposed national protest ill-timed, counter-productive

Aminu Imam
Uba Sani to ACF

Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, yesterday received in audience a high-powered delegation of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), led by the newly elected Chairman, Mamman Mike Osuman, (SAN), OFR. While commending the ACF for been steadfast in its commitment to the promotion and protection of the interests of the people of Northern Nigeria, he drew the attention of the regional association to the disturbing negative developmental indices and security challenges confronting the North.  Governor Sani expressed concern over the high rate of poverty, out-of-school children and the general insecurity in…

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There’s increasing spate of poverty, insecurity, political conflicts across the land” – Conference of Northern CSOs tell Tinubu

Aminu Imam

The Conference of Northern States Civil Society Networks, at the weekend, has lamented the increasing spate of poverty, hunger, insecurity and political conflicts in Nigeria. They called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take the bull by the horn and declare a state of emergency on security, particularly, in some States in the North. The Conference of Northern States Civil Society Networks also expressed deep concern over what it described as looming danger as a result of plots to truncate Nigerian democracy on the, conspicuous fixation to snatch the mandate…

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’24m Nigerians pushed into poverty by inflation’ World Bank

Aminu Imam

…But insists petrol should sell N750 per litre Sluggish growth and rising inflation in Africas biggest economy have pushed an additional 24 million Nigerians into poverty within five years, according to the World Bank. This was revealed in its latest ‘Nigeria Development Update report for December 2023′, yesterday. The report said: Sluggish growth and rising inflation have increased poverty from 40 percent in 2018 to 46% in 2023, pushing an additional 24 million people below the national poverty line. It said the number of poor rose from 79 million in…

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70 percent of Nigerians are poverty-stricken Wole Olanipekun

Aminu Imam

Legal luminary, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has said that majority of Nigerians currently live in poverty, stressing that over 70 percent of the citizens were living below the poverty level. Olanipekun, who spoke in his country home in Ikere-Ekiti, pointed out that there was tension, unrest, anxiety, pressure, confusion, hatred, anguish, pain, distress and transferred aggression among many people. According to the legal icon, the situation in Nigeria is much more challenging, coupled with the burden of insecurity that it had faced for over a decade. The poverty level in Nigeria…

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