By Bala Mohammed Liman. PhD
The recent World bank report that highlighted the growing level of poverty in Nigeria has raised outrage in the country. This is surprising given that the same organisation had in 2019 noted that Nigeria had overtaken India as the poverty capital of the world, stating that 6 Nigerians were pushed below the poverty line every minute.
It went on to warn of the need for policies to be put in place to bring more Nigerians out of poverty. However, by the time the then government’s Multi-dimensional Poverty report was released in 2022, the situation was more dire with 63% or 133 million Nigerians said to be multi dimensionally poor. Is that not more of an outrage?
The World Bank in its April 2025 Poverty & Equity Brief noted that ‘multiple shocks in a context of high economic insecurity have deepened and broadened poverty. Since 2018/19, an additional 42 million people fell into poverty so that more than half of all Nigerians (54 percent) are estimated to live in poverty in 2024, based on World Bank projections’.
It however tries to understate the gravity of the issue by arguing that ‘recent macroeconomic reforms have begun to stabilize the economy, inflation remains high, dampening consumer demand and continuing to undermine the purchasing power of Nigerians. Labor incomes have not kept up with inflation, pushing many Nigerians —particularly in urban areas — into poverty’.
How the initial analysis of increased poverty can go side by side with the seemingly positive outlook being painted by the bank is not clear.
The report, rather than focusing on the pressing social and humanitarian challenges, which is a mild way of describing the current Nigerian situation which can be best described as an existential crisis for many Nigerians, it attempts to put a positive spin on government policies. It notes that the policies;
“have helped eliminate unsustainable distortions and correct course. A unified and market reflective exchange rate has made the naira competitive, orthodox monetary policy has improved FX liquidity and reduced volatility, and removing FX and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) subsidies has started to re-open fiscal space for increased social and capital spending“.
But have these reforms had a positive impact on Nigerians? I will argue not, rather Nigerians are facing existential threats to their very lives. The focus on government should be on improving the lives of its citizens and where policies are not doing that, then there is a need for a review.
However, even with this alarming report and previous ones warning of the increasing level of poverty, there continues to be a disconnect between the country’s political leadership and the very people it is meant to serve, as it remains insensitive to the plight of the ordinary Nigerian.
Obviously, current government policies have done little to improve the standard of living of majority of Nigerians even as all this is happening against a background of increased naira revenues that are meant to help governments impact positively on their citizens through the funding of social programmes in education and health.
However, what we see is the political class increasing its spending on programmes that have little or no impact on ordinary Nigerians.
If governments on all levels had attempted to ensure inclusive economic growth where the emphasis is not the traditional idea of trickledown economics, but rather one where, as defined by the inclusive growth network, social benefits are more evenly spread, inequalities are tackled and opportunities in education, access to health and employment are accessible to all, then Nigerians will have felt the positive impact of government on their lives.
Current government policies seem to be driving us towards an unwanted target of being the country with the highest number of poor people ever recorded. This puts us on a very dangerous and slippery path that is extremely risky for social harmony and the survival of the state.
The political class need to be very concerned about this and must begin to shift its focus from the politics of 2027 to the introduction of more people focused policies that will positively impact on reducing the level of poverty.
Bala Mohammed Liman. PhD
balamliman@gmail.com
