Ever since I was a kid, I’ve witnessed several projects and foundations spring up to fight extreme poverty and diseases in many parts of the world. It once hit me hard to know that Lagos state had a poverty alleviation commissioner, I had to believe that being poor in Nigeria is as regular as being a Nigerian. Twelve years to 2030 – the year United Nations and other concerned organizations have set for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to end extreme poverty, Nigeria is flying the kit high by overtaking India as the country with the most extreme poor people in the world. Going through the new report by The World Poverty Clock, it is logical to assume that 1 out of 2 Nigerians can barely afford to eat daily or even access regular shelter.
The struggle to lift more citizens out of extreme poverty is an indictment on successive Nigerian governments which have mismanaged the country’s vast oil riches through incompetence and corruption.
India has a population seven times larger than Nigeria’s, but the survey now puts it extreme poverty numbers to 73 million, leaving Nigeria – a nation of 180 million people with 87 million endangered lives. By 2050, the country’s ongoing population boom will see it through to become the world’s third largest country and there’s a high chance that nothing will change, or even more people could be poorer.
Of those countries in top ten, only Ethiopia is on track to meet the United Nations’ SDG of ending extreme poverty by 2030.
Ghana and Mauritania are not listed on the but both countries are on track with the UN-SDG target. The report infers that of 15 countries across the world where extreme poverty is rising per World Poverty Clock data, 13 are currently in Africa. Mud me.
Feature Image by @stephen.tayo
