According to data obtained from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations, currently, 82 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty, which is 42.4 percent of Nigeria’s population and to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030, Nigeria needs to have 11.9 people rising above extreme poverty every minute right now. But instead, Nigeria presently has 6.8 people falling into extreme poverty every minute. Nigeria has now taken over from India and has become the state with the highest number of extremely poor people.
Various factors can be held responsible for this constant growth of extreme poverty in Nigeria. One major most important factor is rapid population growth. According to the United Nations, “Nigeria’s population is growing faster than its economy. Between 1990 and 2013, Nigeria’s population increased by 81 percent. By 2050, going by the speed of its present population growth rate, Nigeria will be the third most populous country in the world. By passing the 400 million mark, it will be taking over from the U.S.A. (as the world’s third largest country) and be only behind China and India”.
We do not deserve to live in poverty. Our country is naturally rich in resources, and our people are ambitious, creative and pushful. The poor organization of our country, and the consequent inefficient and wasteful management of our country’s assets, and the greed and corruption that these generate among the elite of our country are the things wrecking our country. We can change all these.
