Peter Obi, the Labor Party’s presidential candidate, said Nigeria needs a new elite consensus on national development priorities and the imperatives to fight poverty.
Obi revealed this in a statement on Wednesday in reaction to a recent report from the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation (IGET) titled Nigeria’s poverty trap and how to break it.
Obi’s report and reaction comes on the heels of the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which showed that 63% of Nigeria’s population (133 million people ) are multidimensionally poor.
Problem Statistics: In his reaction, Obi noted that he found the report’s conclusions extremely worrying, but also a compelling call to action.
- “I have always given priority to poverty alleviation; even more so in the context of moving Nigeria from consumption to production. My position on the National Development Plans is clear and I fully share the report’s conclusion on the need for a new elite consensus on national development priorities and imperatives.” He noticed.
The IGET report: The report called for the abolition of the Land Use Law and civil service and security reforms to improve state capacity and gender empowerment.
He also called for the intensification of family planning education and services, and the resolution of conflicts (or “silent wars”) in various parts of Nigeria that have caused and exacerbated poverty through internal displacement and decreased production. food are all structural changes needed to allow millions of Nigerians to escape the poverty trap.
Furthermore, the report noted the need to rethink social protection in Nigeria, citing that despite various initiatives taken in the last 52 years by various administrations, poverty rates in Nigeria have remained high as the social protection system in Nigeria it is insufficient, ineffective, and therefore mostly ineffective.
He also called for the implementation of a social security program for Nigerians over the age of 65. Nigerians in this age range number 5 million.
- “These seniors could be effectively covered by guaranteed social security payments if the Federal Government of Nigeria could successfully plug tax revenue leaks, such as oil theft (estimated at $700 million per month or $ 8.4 billion per year) and the direct misappropriation of public funds. , combined with cash savings and the management of a social security fund.
- “We believe that Nigeria can set aside N5-7 trillion annually to finance the operation of a comprehensive and well-run social security system, as well as a comparable separate allocation for education, healthcare, water and sanitation.
- “To save money in other areas of government, infrastructure projects should be financed primarily through public-private partnerships, with the exception of rural infrastructure. The cost of governance must be reduced”, said part of the report.
What you should know: On half the population of Nigeria it is multidimensionally poor, with higher multidimensional poverty in rural areas, where 72% of people are poor, compared to 42% of people in urban areas.
- Large deficiencies also appeared at the national level in sanitation, time for medical attention, food insecurity and housing, since 65% of the poor (86 million people) live in the North, while 35% (almost 47 million) live In the south. Poverty levels between states vary significantly, with multidimensional poverty incidence ranging from a low of 27% in Ondo to a high of 91% in Sokoto.
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