NIGERIA AND THE CYCLE OF POVERTY

Poverty refers to the condition of having insufficient resources or income. In its most extreme case, it is the lack of basic human needs (food, cloth and shelter). Extreme poverty can result in death and even at its minor level can make people not to actualize their dreams, desire and goals. The world’s poorest people reside in developing areas of Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe and mostly in Africa.

The reasons for poverty are not clear. Some people believe that poverty results from a lack of adequate resources on a global level—resources such as land, food, and building materials—that are necessary for the well-being or survival of the world’s people. Others see poverty as an effect of the uneven distribution of resources around the world on an international or even regional scale. This second line of reasoning helps explain why many people have much more than they need to live in comfort, while many others do not have enough resources to live.

The cycle of poverty refers to a set of factors or events by which poverty once started is likely to continue unless there is external intervention. In a more focused manner, it is an idea where poor families become trapped in poverty for generations (at least three). In other words when an individual is placed at a disadvantages cycle of events making it impossible for such individual to break out of poverty is the cycle of poverty usually referred to as the DEVELOPMENT TRAP. The following are the usually causes of this cycle mostly starting with low income-low investment-low productivity/revenue etc.

In Nigeria, poverty as risen with almost 100million people living on less than a dollar or 0.63 pounds a day. According to the National Bureau of Statistics in 2010 more than 60.9% of Nigerians were living in absolute poverty rising comparatively from the 54.7% recorded in 2004. According to the Nigeria poverty line of 395naira adopted in 1985, 43% of the population still live below this poverty line.

With this growing rate of poverty within a country with a large deposit of natural resources predominantly from oil which contributes about $52.2billion in revenues to the country accounting for about 11% of the official GDP as at 2012, Nigeria’s economic wealth is said to be focused on the hands of a few individuals while the large populace are said to suffer from poverty. The poverty situation within the country is always attributed to the low income status of most Nigerian families.

About 75% of the generated revenue in the country is being concentrated in the hands of about 10% of the populace leaving the remaining 90% to scramble for the about 25% left. With increase in corruption within the country this situation as become worse in recent years and even though it seems like the is become a major poverty breakage within the country, study still shows that the ratio of people breaking out of the poverty line with respect to those going below the line is about 1/20. This can be attributed mostly to the high birth rate within the country.

Nigeria said to have the second largest economies in Africa and 30^th in the world still as about 60% of its populace below the poverty line. The increase in poverty of the populace is predominantly due to years of resource mismanagement by its various leaders throughout the years. The only way this can be stopped is by proper leadership and also by stopping corruption within the country.

 WRITTEN BY: anwan abasiubong