Poverty issue in Nigeria

POVERTY IN NIGERIA
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Poverty in Nigeria
Introduction
Poverty is among the common developmental issues different administrations and organizations around the world are trying to solve. It is an issue that has remained a significant issue and challenge to humanity across the globe. With poverty having been in existence for decades, a lot of literature has been published evaluating its conception, causes, consequences, and solutions. Nonetheless, a consensus has not been reached in the determination of a standard definition of the term poverty. The only consensus reached with regard to poverty is its universality. Like many other social developmental issues, the concept of poverty keeps evolving as social changes. According to Danaan (2018), the best conception of poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue characterized by consequences in the environmental, social, political, and economic spheres of human existence. This is the definition adopted for the purposes of evaluating the causes, impacts, and solutions being utilized to deal with poverty in Nigeria.
Background Information
Successive administrations have grappled with the challenge of poverty in Nigeria. There is a long-lasting assumption that economic growth automatically reduces poverty. This variance has proved true in developed countries such as Europe and the United States. The variance has also been observed to hold in Asia's developing nations. According to Danaan (2018), poverty rates in Nigeria have challenged the credence of this assumption. The country is marked with phases of rising economic growth, yet the population ravaging in poverty remains significant. In a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2019, 40% of Nigerians are below the poverty line, which is defined as the annual income of $381.75 (World Bank, 2020). This percentage represents many individuals, given that Nigeria has an approximated population of over 200 million. While put in perspective, 40% implies that approximately 83 million Nigerians live below the poverty line. These statistics are worrying considering that the country is endowed with natural and human resources, which are supposed to be added advantage to eradicating poverty. Moreover, the country has continually recorded increasing national income before the ongoing economic ramifications relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic growth in the country is mainly driven by oil exports. One would expect that a country with such valuable natural resources would easily rise to global economic standards and lift most of its citizens from poverty. However, the successive administrations in the country have not been able to achieve this, and thus, the poverty issue remains a significant challenge in Nigeria.
Causes of Poverty
Poverty in Nigeria does not result from a single factor. Instead, the issue is caused by multifaceted, complex aspects. As Olowa (2016) asserts, poverty persists in Nigeria as a result of the infrastructural gap, limited technology, and weak policies in the country. All these factors are linked to the root causes of poverty in Nigeria. Inadequate education is among the major aspects that cause the persistence of poverty in Nigeria. According to the (World Bank, 2020), education plays a vital role in increasing the national productivity of a country. This is associated with factors such as innovation that are dependent on education. Data from the World Bank shows that Nigeria has a total literacy rate of 62% for persons in the age bracket of 15 years and above. These statistics indicate that the illiterate population forms 38% of the population for individuals who are 15 years and above (World Bank, 2020). Like many other African nations, the Nigerian government lacks adequate resources to provide its citizens with sufficient public schools, especially in rural areas. The illiterate population is left to depend on minimum wage.
Deficiencies in Nigerian labor markets are another major reason for the poverty in the region. As Olowa (2016) asserts, a strong labor market is important in the reduction of income inequality and poverty in a country. Customary to any economy, the poor are engaged in the labor markets in one way or another. As such, poverty is either a result of low wages, underemployment, and low-returns in self-employment ventures. Unemployment is among the widely recognized issue recognized in Nigerian labor markets. World Bank data shows that Nigeria had an unemployment rate of 8.5% in 2019. This explains Omoniyi's (2018) observation that most graduates in Nigeria are unemployed. Unemployment leads to a lack of income which translates to low productivity and eventually results in poverty.
Poor governance is another root cause of poverty in Nigeria. The study by Omoniyi (2018) observes that sub-Saharan nations, including Nigeria, are governed by irresponsible administrations characterized by a lack of accountability in the management of both economic and social resources. The poor governance in Nigeria has been linked to a lack of transparency on resource allocation, failure to effective implementation and monitoring of government programs. Successive administrations in the country have also been linked to corruption, where government revenue is mostly embezzled by the political class. The governing elites in the country have also failed to end political instability in the country. The political class has been unable to establish a political transition program that can help actualize social and economic stability in the region (Omoniyi, 2018). Poor governance is also linked to policy failures due to a lack of efficient policy implementation. With poor governance, development programs and poverty reduction initiatives in Nigeria are inefficient and thus the persistence of poverty.
Programs and Policies to deal with Poverty
The alarming poverty rates in Nigeria have prompted the introduction of different poverty eradication programs in the country. One of the widely recognized issues is the National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) which was established in 2001 (Okah et al., 2020). The main objective of NAPEP was the eradication of absolute poverty around Nigeria. NAPEP targeted four areas of improvement. The first was youth empowerment using the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES), which focused on providing job opportunities for the youthful population (Okah et al., 2020). YES also focused on helping youths in the country acquire the necessary skills to generate...