Poverty and Nigeria’s Alleviation Plans Over the Years

Nigeria’s growing poverty is both a cause and an effect of the serious challenges now confronting the country. The nation of more than 200 million people has overtaken India as the country with the highest population of poor people in the world.

The number is at least 83 million Nigerians, or 40 percent of the population, according to data released last year by the National Bureau of Statistics. The determining metric is that they subsist below the poverty line defined as income of 137,430 naira ($381.75) a year. It is estimated that this number will increase to 90 million, or 45% of the population, in 2022.

Nigeria, as several expert studies show, enjoyed an oil-fueled boom in from the 1970s, characterized by corruption and profligate, such that when oil prices crashed, the country was left without financial buffers, triggering economic crises that invariably spawned more poverty.

It is reported that between 1960 and 1980, the poverty level covered about 28% percent of the population; but by the mid 80’s it had risen to about 43% and skyrocketed to over 60% of the population by 1996 and 1997, reaching a record level of 66% by 1999.

Defining Poverty

There is no precise or universal definition of poverty, however, according to the World Bank, a person is considered poor if they are unable to attain a minimum standard of living or if their income level falls below a minimum level necessary to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, potable water, healthcare, education and employment opportunities. The World Bank and the United Nations have tracked global poverty trends since 1990 using a threshold called a common international poverty line which is an indicator for comparing global poverty over time and monitoring progress against key development targets. Currently, it sets this minimum level, or international poverty line, as persons living on less than $1.90 a day.

Interventions

Since Independence, Nigeria has adopted several poverty alleviation strategies, yet the poverty statistics are worsening. This article documents some of these interventions which are listed below. They cover the period from independence in 1960 to the return to civilian rule in 1999.

Poverty Alleviation Programs & Interventions (Post-Independence/Pre-1999)

 

S.No	Name	When	Objectives
1.	The first recorded intervention was the Farm Settlement Option or Farm Settlement Scheme (FSS).	1960s/Post Independence	The programme initiated in old western Region also aimed to solve unemployment among primary school leavers, encourage a farming career and production of cash and food crops. The programme was short lived and eventually collapsed due to inexperience of the farmers and it was described a failure by the Gowon Administration that came in 1967.
2.	National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP)	1972	The  programme focused on increasing the  production  of  maize,  cassava, rice and wheat in  the states through subsistent production within a short period of time.  The objective was to create an avenue for testing and adapting agricultural research findings and making such available to farmers. The policy goal was to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production. It failed due to sudden withdrawal of government funding, lack of farmers’ participation, etc.
3.	Agriculture Development Projects (ADP)	1973/4	Established by the Gowon government, the ADP was then jointly financed by the World Bank and the Federal and State governments. It was piloted in the Northern towns of Gombe, Gusau and Funtua. The programme was aimed at providing credit facilities for the development of agricultural projects, in order to promote integrated rural developments. It eventually became moribund due to  shortage of fund due to decline in oil prices among other factors.
4.	Operation Feed the Nation (OFN)	1976	Established by the Obasanjo military government. It aimed to bring about the cultivation of food and cash crops by every Nigeria to promote self sufficiency in food production. It mostly succeeded in increasing the awareness of increasing food production without any appreciable increase in agricultural production and only lasted until another regime into power.
5.	The Rural Banking Scheme	1977	This was launched by the Central Bank and mandated commercial banks to bring banking nearer to the people at the grassroots through establishment of rural branches and granting of credit facilities. Several years later, the number of branches and their distribution was still not considered ideal with many of them being situated in the urban centres and rural borrowers still encountering difficulties in accessing credit from formal financial institutions.
6.	Establishment of the Land Use Decree	1978	The Obasanjo administration promulgated the Land Use Decree (now Act) to abolish the existing land-tenure system to vest land ownership on the government so that it would be easily available to citizens for use. The policy was also aimed at ensuring that people were not hindered in their attempt to farm. It was believed that with more food production, there would be better standard of living for citizens. However, this law which still exists, has served to enrich a few from the privileged and political class, entrenched inequitable land distribution and inefficient land administration.
7.	Green Revolution Programme (GRP)	1980	Introduced by the Shagari government in the second republic to reduce food importation and ensure food sufficiency through boosting crop production and promoting big, mechanized farming. To realize this programme, the River Basin Development Authorities were utilised to assist agriculture and farmers. The programme did not achieve most of its objectives due to lack of commitment and poor monitoring and evaluation.
8.	The Go-Back-to-Land Programme	1983	This was introduced by the regime of General Buhari and focused on agricultural food production to boost national sufficiency. It restored some of the principles of Gowon’s National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP).
9.	Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)	1986	SAP was a World Bank/IMF conditional lending programme requiring Nigeria to adjust its economic policies to put the Nigerian economy, which was on decline, back on the path of recovery. It involved policies that targeted reducing government spending, introducing austerity measures, opening up the economy to increased international trade by either reducing or eliminating protection for domestic industries, devaluation of currency, privatization and commercialization of the economy, etc.  It however resulted in job losses, increased cost of goods and services, and severe economic hardship on citizens prompting strong public backlash that culminated in mass protests and riots across the country.
10.	National Directorate of Employment (NDE)	1987	This was set up by the military government headed of General Ibrahim Babangida to curb youth unemployment and provide skills acquisition/training. The emphasis was on selfreliance and entrepreneurship.
11.	Directorate for Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI)	1986	This was targeted at rural areas and dwellers. It aimed to provide roads, water supply, rural electrification and other basic amenities. The programme was not a success as poor quality of infrastructures was delivered due to corruption and mismanagement of funds.
12.	Better Life Programme (BLP) for Rural Women	1987	This was founded by Mrs. Maryam Babangida, the wife of the then Head of State. It also targeted the rural woman, focusing on rural development programmes, skills acquisition, and health care. It was criticised for being hijacked by urban elite women.
13.	National Economic Recovery Fund (NERFUND)	1989	This was set up to provide medium to long-term financing to small and medium-scale industrial enterprises and provide medium and long-term credit to commercial banks for on-lending.
14.	The People’s Bank of Nigeria Programme (PBN)	1990	People’s Bank of Nigeria was designed to extend credit services to the poor, encourage savings, and grant credit facilities to small businessmen and women. It did not meet its objectives and was overtaken by establishment of Community Banks.
15.	The Family Support Programme (FSP)	1994	This was launched in 1996 by late General Abacha and his wife, Mrs. Maryam Sani Abacha. It targeted families in the rural areas to provide health care delivery, child welfare, and youth development.
16.	Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP)	1997	It aimed to  grant credit facilities to people in rural areas and to support the establishment of cottage industries.

 

 

In spite of the introduction of these different poverty alleviation interventionist programs by successive governments, the results have been poor to non-existent leaving the country sliding deeper into poverty.

Several reasons have been given by scholars and experts for the failure of these institutions and programmes. Some of them include the following:

• • • Lack of a clearly defined policy framework with proper guidelines for poverty alleviation
    • Change of government and political instability leading to lack of continuity
    • Duplicative functions of implementing agencies and programmes leading to unnecessary plurality of influences and interests, wrong allocation of roles and functions to agencies and overall gaps in implementation.
    • Corruption, poor management, lack of accountability and transparency
    • Pursuit of parochial interests
    • Poor staffing and incompetence
    • Lack of commitment
    • Poor budgetary management
    • Overextended scope of activities of most institutions
    • Inappropriate programme design
    • Inadequate infrastructure for movement, processing and preservation of agricultural products
    • High operating costs arising from the private investments in infrastructural support services such as electricity and water supply

• The second part of this article will run on the next edition of the PLAC Beam and will focus on government poverty-alleviation programmes since 1999.

Photo Credit: Information Nigeria