A new report by the World Bank shows that Northern Nigeria recorded 87 percent of Nigeria’s poverty rate in 2016.
The report titled ‘Advancing social protection in a dynamic Nigeria’ which was released in January 2020 showed that the north also lagged heavily behind the south in every human development indices.
According to the report quoted by The Punch, poverty in the north was mostly centred in the North-West zone, where President Muhammadu Buhari hails from. The zone witnessed half the number of the north’s total poor, the report showed.
Described as a ‘detailed analysis of the social protection sector’ in Nigeria, the report criticised the social protection measures implemented by the Federal Government for their inability to address extreme poverty in the country.
The report which recognised Nigeria’s natural and physical endowments, affirmed that despite these enormous resources, Nigeria was the extreme poverty capital of the world.
“Nigeria experiences high inequality along geographic lines, with poverty mostly concentrated in the North and in rural areas.
“Poverty in the northern regions of the country has been increasing, especially in the North-West zone.
“Almost half of all the poor lived in the North-West and the North accounts for 87 per cent of all the poor in the country in 2016,” the report read in part.
“Poverty rates in the southern zones were around 12 per cent with little variation across zones. The South-South zone saw the most significant drop in poverty from 2011-2016.
“Poverty was significantly higher in rural areas of the country in 2016. An estimated 64 per cent of all poor lived in rural areas and 52 per cent of the rural population lived below the poverty line in 2016. In contrast, the poverty rate in urban areas remained stable at 16 per cent between 2011 and 2016.”
Reiterating the dichotomy between Southern and Northern Nigeria, the report read: “Regionally, the North lags far behind the South in every human capital outcome.People in the Northern regions are also more vulnerable to falling into poverty.”
According to the report, poverty in the north was fuelling Boko Haram insurgency, as most of the youths engaged by the terror group were jobless.
The World Bank report further identified the lack of basic infrastructure as a leading cause of poverty in the country.
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