poverty issue in Nigeria

POVERTY IN NIGERIA
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Poverty in Nigeria
Introduction
Poverty is among the common developmental issues different administrations and organizations around the world are trying to solve. It is an issue that has remained a significant issue and challenge to humanity across the globe. With poverty having been in existence for decades, a lot of literature has been published evaluating its conception, causes, consequences, and solutions. Nonetheless, a consensus has not been reached in the determination of a standard definition of the term poverty. The only consensus reached with regard to poverty is its universality. Like many other social developmental issues, the concept of poverty keeps evolving as social changes. According to Danaan (2018), the best conception of poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue characterized by consequences in the environmental, social, political, and economic spheres of human existence. This is the definition adopted for the purposes of evaluating the causes, impacts, and solutions being utilized to deal with poverty in Nigeria.
Background Information
Successive administrations have grappled with the challenge of poverty in Nigeria. There is a long-lasting assumption that economic growth automatically reduces poverty. This variance has proved true in developed countries such as Europe and the United States. The variance has also been observed to hold in Asia's developing nations. According to Danaan (2018), poverty rates in Nigeria have challenged the credence of this assumption. The country is marked with phases of rising economic growth, yet the population ravaging in poverty remains significant. In a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2019, 40% of Nigerians are below the poverty line, which is defined as the annual income of $381.75 (World Bank, 2020). This percentage represents many individuals, given that Nigeria has an approximated population of over 200 million. While put in perspective, 40% implies that approximately 83 million Nigerians live below the poverty line. These statistics are worrying considering that the country is endowed with natural and human resources, which are supposed to be added advantage to eradicating poverty. Moreover, the country has continually recorded increasing national income before the ongoing economic ramifications relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic growth in the country is mainly driven by oil exports. One would expect that a country with such valuable natural resources would easily rise to global economic standards and lift most of its citizens from poverty. However, the successive administrations in the country have not been able to achieve this, and thus, the poverty issue remains a significant challenge in Nigeria.
Causes of Poverty
Poverty in Nigeria does not result from a single factor. Instead, the issue is caused by multifaceted, complex aspects. As Olowa (2016) asserts, poverty persists in Nigeria as a result of the infrastructural gap, limited technology, and weak policies in the country. All these factors are linked to the root causes of poverty in Nigeria. Inadequate education is among the major aspects that cause t...