Nigerians getting poorer under Jonathan — W/Bank From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos A World Bank report has indicated that there is significant increase in the number of Nigerians living in poverty. The “Nigeria Economic Report,” May, 2013 by the Bank noted that there is a “perplexing contrast” between the nation’s economic statistics on rapid economic growth and minimal welfare improvements for much of the population. “Poverty rates remain high in Nigeria, particularly in rural areas,” the report said noting that, these rates declined between 2003-2004 and 2009- 2010. “While the officially reported growth rates of GDP well exceed population growth in the country, the pace of poverty reduction does not,” the report said, “implying that the number of poor Nigerians living below the poverty line has grown measurably.” The World Bank said the first Nigeria Economic Report was designed to give some attention to longer term trends in the country, including the puzzle of why a decade of rapid GDP growth by official statistics, concentrated in the pro-poor areas of agriculture and trade did not bring stronger welfare and employment benefits to the population. Aside from the increase in poverty, the World Bank said progress towards a number of the other Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria had also been disappointing, as Nigeria was ranked 153 out of 186 countries in the 2013 United Nations Human Development Index. The report explained further that unemployment rates have been on steady increase while younger Nigerians encounter increasing difficulty in finding gainful employment. The report said that, “Job creation in Nigeria has been inadequate to keep pace with the expanding working age population. “The official unemployment rate has steadily increased from 12 per cent of the working age population in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2011. “Preliminary indications are that this upward trend continued in 2012.” The report also noted that the official definition of employment in Nigeria (less than 40 hours worked in the past week) is unusual and is therefore not comparable to what is obtainable in most other countries. “The negative dynamic is very consistent however with perceptions of the population of increasing difficulties for finding gainful employment. “Going by this, the problem in Nigeria might best be interpreted as under-employment in contrast to unemployment proper. “Nigeria’s annual growth rates that average over seven per cent in official data during the last decade place the nation among the fastest growing economies in the world. “This growth has been concentrated particularly in trade and agriculture which would suggest substantial welfare benefits for many Nigerians. “Nevertheless, improvements in social welfare indicators have been mu “Poverty reduction and job creation have not kept pace with population growth, implying social distress for an increasing number of Nigerians. “Given the seeming inconsistencies between the national accounts data summarized above and statistics based on other surveys, it is imperative to conduct further investigations and statistical tests to uncover the true growth and development story in Nigeria. “In sum, statistics on poverty and unemployment in Nigeria, together with other direct indicators of welfare, suggest a story that is rather different from the national accounts data. “The GDP growth has not been sufficient to support levels of poverty reduction and job creation necessary to prevent a growing number of poor and unemployed (underemployed) Nigerians,” the World Bank said. But the Federal Government has said Nigerians should stop heaping blames on it alone as all leaders at all levels of governance should be held liable for these seeming damning reports. According to the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is committed to reinforcing democratic institutions in the country but regretted that Nigerians have failed to hold their local leaders accountable. Maku spoke yesterday at a ceremony in Lagos marking the 20th anniversary of the annulment of the June 12, 1993, election, organized by the Save Nigeria Group. According to Maku, “the problem is that we have become so used to dictatorship that if people go to their village and their local public toilet is not there, it is the President. “If people go to their village and the local primary school is not working, it is the President. “The President must bear responsibility because he is the leader of Nigeria but the truth of the matter is that power is dispatched through institutions that must take responsibility. “And, if we must change Nigeria, we must hold every leader responsible.” According to Maku, Nigeria’s challenges are no different from those experienced by advanced nations at various stages of their nationhood and insisted that, “the present administration is on the right track as we have put forward a new roadmap.” However, also speaking at the programme, Convener of the Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, described the country as being on the precipice, waiting to crash any moment. According to Bakare, “our people are poor because their leaders make poor policy choices and they do so because of their apparent lack of capacity as Chief MKO Abiola succinctly put it in his Epetedo Declaration on June 11, 1994. “No one in his right senses can conclude that Nigerians are poor because our people do not work hard. “Indeed, they work hard but productivity is low and the cost of doing business is very high. “Neither can anyone blame the daunting poverty of the majority of our citizens on lack of natural resources in certain parts. “The resources are all over-abundant but they have been used hitherto to enrich the elite.” He recalled that Abiola had promised during his presidential debate that a Nigerian child would not go to bed hungry again. “But now,” according to Bakare, “they not only go to bed hungry but also sit on bare floor in their various schools.”
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:30:01 +0000
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