NIGERIA MASTERWEB DAILY NEWS

*Nigeria: Poverty As Mother of Violence

By Ifeatu Agbu

It was Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of non-violent protest, who said that “poverty is the worst form of violence.” Other great thinkers before him were even more radical in their views of this human scourge. For instance, the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle puts it thus: ‘The mother of revolution and crime is poverty.”

It is, therefore, necessary for our governments at all levels to put in more efforts to alleviate, if not eradicate poverty in our society, given that it is the soul of most conflicts and crises across the world. In some advanced countries in Europe and America, all disadvantaged people, such as the unemployed, are catered for by the state, apparently to douse the fire of discontent boiling within them. Today in Nigeria, the sporadic conflicts in several parts of the country could be traced to poverty. Be it the incessant crises in the country’s delta region; the re-occurring ethnic conflict in Jos, Plateau State, or even the Boko Harram religious crises in some northern states. These conflicts are manifestations of lack of education and skills, which ultimately breed ignorance and poverty.

At independence in 1960, poverty eradication efforts in the country centred on education, which was seen as the key to economic, technological and intellectual development of the nation. The legendry “Zik of Africa,” the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first President, hinged his policies on the mantra: ’’Show the light, and the people will find the way.” The sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo declared free education in the old Western region in 1955 with the sole objective of eliminating ignorance and poverty.

Thus, education programmes were implemented alongside agricultural extension services, which encouraged cash-crop production. With the export of cocoa and rubber in the West/Midwest; palm oil and kernel in the East; cotton and groundnut in the North; the regions waged war against poverty through education and infrastructure development. Equally important is the fact that majority of the leaders of that era rendered selfless services to their fatherland. ( Continues below….. )

However, the oil boom in the 1970s altered the equation, as rising global oil prices boosted exports from N4 billion in 1975 to N26 billion in 1980, while GNP per capita rose from $360 to more than $1000. It was so rosy in those days that the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon was quoted as saying that Nigeria’s problem was determining what to do with its immense oil wealth.

In 1960, according to the Federal Office of Statistics, about 15 per cent of the population was poor but by 1980 this had grown to 28 per cent. The FOS estimated that by 1985 the extent of poverty was about 46 per cent although it dropped to 43 per cent by 1992. However, by 1996, poverty incidence in the country was 66 per cent or 76.6 million Nigerians out of a population of 110 million, it said.

The UN human Poverty Index in 1999 which credited Nigeria with 41.6 per cent captured the phenomenon more succinctly as the figure placed the nation as amongst the 25 poorest nations in the world. Today, it is estimated that two thirds of the country’s 120 million people or 80 million are said to be poor and this is in spite of the fact that since independence Nigeria is estimated to have realised $300 billion in oil and gas revenues and development aid.

The causes of this rising state of poverty in the country had variously been traced to, corruption, bad governance, debt overhang, unemployment, low productivity, burgeoning population growth, globalisation, unfocused government policies, lack of effective skills training, among other factors. Of all these possible causes of poverty, corruption seems to the consuming fire that eats up funds that would have otherwise been used to rescue a lot of people from the pains and pangs of want. Just recently, we were assailed with the sordid deals woven around the Halliburton scandal. In spite of the cover ups, the putrid mess is out in the open. Recently, the United States’ Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders, revealed that documents and evidence needed by the Nigerian authorities to prosecute culprits in the $180million scandal have been made available.

The Federal Government was reported to have drawn up a list of indicted persons recommended for prosecution for allegedly sharing the bribe money. What is even more depressing is that the Halliburton scandal is just one out of the many cases of high profile corruption in a country where majority of the populace are living in abject poverty. Almost on a daily basis, you read stories of excessive graft in our newspapers. Nowadays, what is stolen by one person or the other is always in billions of naira. It is no longer “fashionable” to steal mere millions. What a shame!

Prof. Itse Sagay was dead right, when he said recently in a television programme that when the government announces a budget for any project, those selected to implement it, will first of all seat down to decide how to share the money among themselves, all to the detriment of the nation. So, we have a situation where even the funds meant for poverty eradication programmes are embezzled by a privileged few, who curiously get away with their crime most of the time because of ineffective anti-corruption mechanisms. ( Continues below….. )

Photo Above: Map of Nigeria

Notwithstanding the debilitating effects of corruption, successive governments have tried to articulate strategies to battle the poverty scourge. Most of those programmes fail woefully, again because of the implementers who see them as opportunities to enrich themselves, their families and cronies.

While many of these programmes collapsed at one point or the other, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) survived many administrations. By its mandate, NDE was to design and implement programmes to combat mass unemployment and articulate policies aimed at developing work programmes with labour intensive potentials.

Currently, the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) is the central coordination point for all anti-poverty efforts from the local government level to the national level. Perhaps, the difference between NAPEP and other poverty reduction agencies is that it is not a sector project implementation agency but a coordination facility that ensures that the core poverty eradication ministries were effective. Obviously, it is in line with this operational model that NAPEP and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), have resolved to join forces to fight poverty with programmes that will support economic activities in communities in the Niger Delta. The National Co-ordinator of NAPEP, Dr Magnus Kpakol, said the only way to succeed in the fight against poverty is for institutions to leverage the advantages which exist within them, noting that to be successful in the fight against poverty, the over 50 per cent of the country’s population which is out of the production process must be empowered to contribute to economic national development.

He told the NDDC management during a courtesy call at its headquarters in Port Harcourt that NAPEP had programmes which could make the communities engines of economic activities. "One of such programmes is the Village Economic Development Solutions Scheme through which anchor processing activities are being established across the communities.” Mr. Chibuzo Ugwuoha, the NDDC Managing Director, said that the task of NAPEP and that of the commission dovetail so well that it would be very easy for the two institutions to work together. He assured that the two agencies would work closely in the fight against poverty.

He noted that the NDDC had already embarked on educational and skill-acquisition programmes to enhance the capacity of Niger Delta youths to acquire the requisite empowerment that would make them competitive in the present global setting. There is no doubt that the youths put through skill acquisition programmes need proper mentorship and monitoring to effectively say goodbye to poverty.

It must be noted, however, that the flight from poverty does not end with the acquisition of skills and setting up small-scale industries to engage the beneficiaries of the training schemes. There is the problem of infrastructure, like electricity to contend with. The problem of power must be adequately tackled for small-scale industries, which are the engine of any growing economy to thrive.

Incidentally, addressing the deplorable power situation in the country is tied inextricably to the inefficiency in the energy sector. So, by taking charge of the Power Ministry, the Acting President, Dr.Goodluck Jonathan has decided to take the bull by the horns. He needs all the support and prayers of all Nigerian to succeed in this arduous task. Perhaps, more importantly, he must, as he reaffirmed during his recent CNN interview, re-energise the anti-graft bodies, such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, to drastically reduce corruption in the country. Everyone knows that all efforts at reducing poverty will come to naught until corruption is fought to a standstill.

Mr. Agbu writes from Port Harcourt.

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