Rising inflation, continuing population growth, the COVID-19 epidemic, and the war in Ukraine, according to World Bank economists Jonathan Lain and Jakob Engel, are endangering Nigeria’s poverty reduction goals.
This was stated in a statement on the bank’s blog on Tuesday by economists.
The post read in part, “Nigeria’s aspiration to lift all of its people out of poverty by 2030 presents a serious challenge. Even before COVID-19, four in 10 Nigerians lived below the national poverty line – some 80 million people.
“The global pandemic, rising inflation, and ongoing uncertainty related to the war in Ukraine – combined with relentless population growth – have made Nigeria’s poverty-reduction goals more challenging than ever.”
President Muhammadu Buhari established the National Steering Committee of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, which is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in June of last year.
This, he said, reaffirms his promise to pull 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years through a well-researched implementation and funding structure.
The president was quoted in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, as saying, “If India can lift 271 million people out of poverty between 2006 and 2016, Nigeria can surely lift 100 million out of poverty in 10 years.
“Fortunately, we have already started but we need to unlock the challenges of slow implementation, inappropriate targeting and absence of adequate resources.”
Tara Vishwanath, the World Bank’s Lead Economist for the Middle East and North Africa region’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Group, termed Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s objective of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years as ambitious in October last year.
She stated that the lofty target could only be achieved if specific quick policies were implemented to increase job possibilities and promote investor confidence.
According to the World Bank’s ‘A Better Future for All Nigerians: 2022 Nigeria Poverty Assessment,’ poverty reduction has been stagnant since 2015, with more Nigerians sliding below the poverty line over time.
This suggests that the country’s poverty situation has not improved since Buhari was first elected president of Nigeria in 2015.
According to the Washington-based bank, the number of poor Nigerians is expected to reach 95.1 million by 2022.
The World Bank also warned that many Nigerians who are not impoverished are only a slight shock away from becoming poor.
According to the lender, such a shock could be caused by climate or conflict-related difficulties, which could jeopardise Nigeria’s poverty-reduction efforts.
