By: Ummie Kabir.

Has poverty, a ravaging social catastrophe really come to stay with us in Nigeria. This, question likely agitates the minds of over 70 percent of poverty stricken Nigerians and par adventure, the minds of policy makers with conscience. Nigerians living in urban and rural communities alike are facing persistent inflationary pressures, including higher food prices, rising utility bills, high transportation costs, and shrinking disposable income which have combined to weaken consumer spending.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) 2025 report indicates that 50.1 percent of Nigerians spend almost their entire monthly income on food, with high food inflation significantly reducing disposable income. The Data also highlights a heavy reliance on income for sustenance. Beyond the $1.90 a day metric, NBS data further indicated that over 130 million citizens suffer from multidimensional poverty and lacking access to basic services.

Nigeria is frequently cited as the “poverty capital of the world” based on World Poverty Clock data indicating it has one of the highest numbers of people living in extreme poverty estimated at over 70 million in 2024. While India surpassed Nigeria in 2022, Nigeria still attracts attention due to its large population of over 225 million and high rates of multidimensional poverty. The label gained prominence in 2018 when Nigeria overtook India to take the top spot. Although rankings fluctuate, Nigeria’s situation is driven by economic shocks, low income, and population growth.

The immediate past President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, raised serious concerns about Nigeria’s situation and revealed that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita has dropped to $824 — far below the $1,847 recorded at independence in 1960. Speaking sometime back in April 2024, at an event in Lagos, Adesina said “Nigeria is facing a deeper economic decline than widely acknowledged, and urgently needs a radical overhaul of its economic structure to become globally competitive by 2050.”

“According to him , Nigerians are worse off than they were we were at independence 65 years ago due to long-standing issues such as poor policy decisions, weak institutions, heavy dependence on oil, and underinvestment in vital sectors.

Notwithstanding the fact that successive administrations in the country, over the years have come up with policies and programmes aimed at addressing the scourge with little or no meaningful impact.
In short, Nigeria has rolled out dozens of programmes since 1979. Most were either replaced or renamed by successive governments. The advent of Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) designed to Curb food imports, boost food production, backyard farming Obasanjo Military 1976 Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme by CBN guarantees bank loans to farmers, River Basin Development Authorities to promote Irrigation, fishery, flood control and the popular Land Use Act which Centralized land for agric investment and the Directorate of Food, Roads & Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) to open up Rural roads, water, electricity.
Other popular programmes include then National Directorate of Employment (NDE) for Skills acquisition, entrepreneurship, job creation, Better Life Programme for Rural Women to train Women empowerment, cottage industries,!the legendary Peoples Bank of Nigeria and Community Banks to grant Micro-credit for poor, informal sector, Rural banking, microfinance and Family Support Programme (FSP, Healthcare, education, income for families.
By the year 2000, a deliberate attempt to tackle poverty led to the inauguration in the of Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) specifically to for Job creation, credit. The failure of PAP led to the introductionof National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) in 2001 as an Umbrella body to coordinate poverty efforts. 4 schemes: YES, RIDS, SOWESS, NRDCS and Capacity Acquisition Programme (CAP) for Skills training for self-reliance, under NAPEP.
Fast forward to more recent poverty alleviation or empoweriment programmes like Subsidy Reinvestment & Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) 2012, to Use subsidy savings for jobs, public works, maternal health and the Government Enterprise & Empowerment Programme (GEEP) of 2016 which galvanized the TraderMoni, MarketMoni, FarmerMoni — microloans.
The Central Bank of Nigeria owned Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) of 2017 for loans to smallholder farmers via anchors, tapping into the entire value chain of agriculture and create employment and to the Present President Tinubu Era with Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer.
The bottom line is that the issue of poverty in Nigeria has assumed a disturbing dimension. Despite several programmes and direct interventions spanning several decades, poverty rose from 27.2% in 1980 to 72.4% in 2018, and 62-63% in 2025-2026 meaning that approximately 141 million Nigerians wallow in poverty currently.

The recent inauguration of Grant Implementation Team for the World Bank Grant Facility for Project Preparation (GFPP) by Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, has again triggered deep sober reflection about the country’s inability to feed her people and manage resources efficiently for the common good of her citizens.

On its part, the World Bank has also disclosed that the poverty rate among Nigeria’s rural population has reached an alarming 75.5 per cent, highlighting deepening inequality and widespread economic hardship across the country. According to the Bank’s latest April 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief for Nigeria, rural dwellers are overwhelmingly bearing the brunt of economic stagnation, inflation, and structural challenges that have characterised the country’s growth trajectory in recent years. This was disclosed in its Nigeria Development Update (April 2026) titled “Nigeria’s Tomorrow Must Start Today: The Case for Early Childhood Development,” released in Abuja recently.
Data presented in the report indicated that the share of Nigerians living below the poverty line increased from 56 per cent in 2023 to 61 per cent in 2024, before peaking at 63 per cent in 2025.

The rise in the poverty figure to about 140 million Nigerians occurred even as inflation began to ease during the period, indicates a disconnect between price moderation and real income growth or purchasing power of the citizens.
The data, derived from Nigeria’s most recent nationally representative surveys, show that while 41.3 per cent of the urban population lives below the poverty line the figure for rural Nigeria is almost double.
The report noted that overall, 30.9 per cent of Nigerians lived below the international extreme poverty line of $2.15 per day in 2018/19, before the outbreak of COVID-19.

For PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) a global financial consultancy, many Nigerians, poverty is likely to get more acute in 2026. The Nigeria Economic Outlook 2026 report, published in the first week of the New Year by PwC should trouble the conscience of any government that claims to exist for the welfare of its people. Its most unnerving projection is that about 141 million Nigerians, roughly 62 per cent of the population, will be living in poverty by 2026.

The reality is glaring. It is a blaring alarm bell signalling that the country is drifting deeper into a socioeconomic emergency.
In the report Titled “Turning Macroeconomic Stability into Sustainable Growth,”it paints a grim picture of deteriorating living standards as Nigeria enters the 2027 electioneering season.

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has also raised the alarm over the rising cost of living, warning that the country is approaching a socio-economic crisis. In a recent statement, HURIWA National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the situation reflects “a catastrophic rise in the cost of living” and a “troubling absence of accountability.”
“The country is fast approaching a socio-economic breaking point driven by policy missteps, weak economic management, and a troubling absence of accountability,” he said. Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics and assessments by the World Bank, the group said inflation, food prices, and declining purchasing power have worsened living conditions for millions of Nigerians.

The situation has become so critical that advancing reforms that address poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion in a structured and sustainable manner is the only way forward and the time is now.

Action time devoid of politicking and propaganda, is now. Bearing in mind that deliberate and meaningful reforms would only happen with strong institutions, consistent policies, and good governance. Without a credible reform agenda ‘with human face” the country risks sinking further into crisis with unimaginable consequences.

We have to come realize that Growth alone isn’t translating to socioeconomic wellbeing irrespective of whatever endorsement given by the Bretton Woods institutions for the ongoing reforms. To an average Nigerian, World Bank reports are interpreted as external validation of their suffering especially where such reports gave kudos to economic reforms that negate the realities on ground, particularly wellbeing of citizens. .

The newly proposed initiative which the Minister of Humanitarian and poverty Reduction described as “a flagship National intervention designed to modernize Nigeria’s social protection architecture, strengthen coordination across institutions and ensure that government interventions are more targeted, efficient and data-driven” must implemented to the letter. And we sincerely hope that the desired objectives come to fruition.

The silver lining for poverty alleviation lies in agriculture since statistics still show that it employs over 50 percent of the population. Hence there’s an urgent need to fix agriculture alongside rural livelihood away from subsistence levels. This will mitigate the misnomer like rudimentary farming practices, Post-harvest losses, poor transportation networks and poor or absence of social amenities. Agricultural practices should be Modernized with mechanised implements, Improved seeds, irrigation and climate-resilient techniques and animal husbandry to boost yields.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again assumed the pivotal role in repositioning agriculture with the inauguration of new Board for the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) last December. The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso charged the new board under the Chairmanship of Dr. Olusegun Oshin “to lead efforts in enhancing agricultural lending, fostering innovation, and supporting farmers”. No doubt, the CBN is it’s usual manner will galvanized necessary support the board to succeed in its primary task of making agriculture funding attractive.

In addition, collaboration across the agricultural value chain must be strengthened. Farmers, processors, commodity aggregators or distributors, and retailers must operate within an integrated system that reduces inefficiencies and enhances productivity.

Above all, there must be political will to address this social malady. Food security should be treated as a national security issue. Just as governments prioritise politicking and infrastructure, so too must they prioritise the nourishment of her citizens, especially children. The current food crisis, if left unaddressed, will define the nation’s future in the most damaging way. But with decisive action, it can also become a turning point, a moment that compels the nation to rebuild its food systems, protect its children, and secure its citizens.

Also, there must be a deliberate policy shift towards nutrition-sensitive agriculture. It is not enough to produce more food; the focus must be on producing the right kinds of food. Incentivising the production of protein-rich and nutrient-dense foods, such as poultry, fish, and legumes, should be a national priority.

Tangential to agricultural modernization, is the issue of market linkages through Better roads, storage and aggregation so that farmers sell at favourable prices instead of being left at the mercy of middlemen. The entire value chains of agricultural production should be adequately tapped into in order to maximize the potentials like employment generation and enhanced income inherent in the sector.

Agriculture cannot thrive under current dispensation whereby major food production belts are under siege. World Bank downgraded 2026 growth to 4.1% citing “security concerns, and policy uncertainty ahead of 2027 elections”. Violence in food-producing regions drives food insecurity for 33.1 million Nigerians. As a matter of urgency, government should Secure food belts of the country by nipping the unbearable incidences of banditry, kidnapping, session agitation across the country so that farmers return to fields.

Implementation of well coordinated Social Safety Nets is paramount at this very moment. Establishing systems like cash transfers or food assistance helps people during crises, as seen in efforts to reduce poverty. targeted social protection programmes are essential. Conditional cash transfers, school feeding schemes, and maternal nutrition support can provide immediate relief while long-term reforms take effect. The success of such programmes in nations like Bola’s Familia Auxilio in Brazil, Productive Safety Net Programme in Ethiopia and Benazir Income Support in Pakistan have all demonstrated their viability under corruption free environment.

Investing in qualitative education and basic health care are capable of breaking the shackles of poverty especially when complemented with basic amenities like good roads, water and sanitation

In conclusion, Nigeria has no business with extreme poverty if only our policy makers rejig the economic reforms strategy to align with social factors in the form of targeted cash transfers, investment in agriculture and small businesses, and measures to stabilize food prices, all of which are essential complements to reforms. Otherwise, the envisaged long term gains of ongoing reforms would be completely eroded due to the current socioeconomic hardship. Reforms must work for the citizens.