UNESCO on poverty in Nigeria

The 2010 Global Monitoring Report (GMR) of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which revealed that about 92 per cent of the Nigerian population survive on less than $2 daily, while about 71 per cent survive on less than $1 daily, is a major embarrassment for the supposed 'Giant of Africa.'

Interestingly, the report, entitled 'Reaching for the marginalized,' came against the backdrop of fears earlier expressed by many concerned individuals and organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that unless urgent steps are taken by Nigeria and other African countries, they will not meet the 2015 target date for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is Goal No.1 of the development strategy produced under the umbrella of the United Nations to enable member countries, especially the developing countries, to reduce the poverty rate by at least 50 per cent in 2015.

Sadly, current indices show that Nigeria and most countries in Africa are not even moving in the direction of achieving the MDGs by the set target date.

That Nigeria, with its enormous resources and potentials, is sitting 20th among the world's poorest countries, is to say the least disgusting.

The truth is that there is, indeed, widespread poverty in the land, and the consequences of this to the development of the nation have been grave.

Nigeria moved from a per capita GDP of US$1,200 in 1981, to about US$300 in 2000 with about 70 percent of its population falling below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Considering that nothing much has changed development-wise in the country since then, the latest report would not have come as a surprise to many, except government officials, who dissipate more energy denying the obvious than they expend on addressing the frightening problem of poverty.

Indeed, most of governments' poverty alleviation programmes, which receive billions of naira in grants and allocation, have been roundly criticized as mere direct transfers of cash to politically selected beneficiaries.

As a result of large scale corruption, the quality of life of most Nigerians has been progressively on the decline.

While the generality of Nigerians continue to wallow in abject poverty, however, a privileged few, live in opulence.

Poverty has, indeed, become the face of Nigeria and poses a serious threat to the development of the country.

Although poverty is more acute in rural areas where the people hardly have access to any basic infrastructure, city dwellers, especially those who live in urban slums, still grapple with this unfortunate situation.

Going by the UNESCO latest report, it is clear that Nigeria is still very far from meeting the global economic development target.

The situation is so bleak that an average salary earner cannot earn enough to support a family because of rising cost of food items, transportation, healthcare, among numerous other challenges.

Added to this, is the fact that the material condition of women, who comprise 50 percent of the population, is even worse than that of men.

The well being of women in general, including their education, and active participation in political activities, has been so neglected over the years that the few concessions being made to them now, have not been enough to make any difference.

While government officials may continue to kick against these statistics by international organizations, the basic fact is that the quality of life of most Nigerians has been on the downward trend. The rising poverty level is the consequence of mass unemployment and corrupt leadership, which denies the people access to basic infrastructure such as roads, potable water, electricity, healthcare among others.

This may well explain the alarming level of insecurity and crime in the country, leading to high incidences of kidnapping, political violence, sectarian violence as well as prostitution and child trafficking.

We acknowledge that one way out of poverty is not to indulge in these vices. We, however, stress that government must take seriously, the saying that an idle mind is the devil's workshop.

Our youths must be trained and be engaged in productive ventures for the benefit of the nation. In doing this, girl-child education must be given serious attention, since a nation that ignores the potentials of its female population is obviously planning to fail.

To reduce the poverty level in Nigeria to the barest minimum, government should, as a matter of urgency, work towards the diversification of the country's economy, to reduce dependence on oil revenue, especially in the face of the current global financial crisis.

There must be more investments in intensive mechanized agriculture just as efforts should be made to develop small scale and medium scale enterprises, which are important for the growth of the economy.

There should, also, be credible elections where people will be free to choose their leaders. The war on corruption, which at the moment, seems to have slowed down must be fought more vigorously.

Mass literacy programmes must be embarked upon since education is a potent weapon against poverty.

Above all, government must create the enabling environment for business to thrive.

Nigeria, with its enormous resources, has no business making the poverty list. The gap between the rich and the poor should not be as wide as it has continued to be, in the interest of all.

Daily Champion

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Defence chiefs warn against coup

On Monday, both the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike, and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Abdurahman Dambazau, warned military personnel not to plot a coup d'etat against President Umaru Yar'Adua, whose health condition Senators will debate today.

Dike pledged at the commissioning of the Nigerian Army Forward Operational Base in Abuja that the military under his leadership will stick to its constitutional role of defending Nigeria's territorial integrity without meddling in politics.

He said reports that the military seeks to take over governance because of Yar'Adua's poor health and incapacitation are not true.

His words: "I am compelled to remind everyone of the constitutional role of the Armed Forces, which is primarily anchored on the protection of Nigeria's territorial integrity. Meddling in political issues does not complement our constitutional role in any way, shape or form.

"I therefore warn all members of the Armed Forces to steer clear of politics. Ours is a military that is mindful of its past, conscious of its present, and hopeful of the future. The Nigerian Armed Forces will therefore not depart from their chosen path of honour.

"I urge all of you to remain focused and committed to the service of our fatherland. We must always remind ourselves that politics is better played by politicians.

"Also, I must not fail to stress that regardless of the imperfection of our political experiments, democracy remains the only acceptable form of governance. And as members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, we must defend it at all costs."

Dambazau also told military officers to beware of politicians who may want to use them to fan the embers of disunity.

"We want to state categorically that, in the Nigerian Army, our religion is espirit de corps while our tribe is the military profession, and our training has placed us above primordial sentiments. The barracks is not a political battlefield, and our soldiers are not tools to be used for creating disunity," he stressed.

He affirmed the Army's commitment to its constitutional responsibilities and to contribute meaningfully to the entrenchment of democracy.

"We have said repeatedly that, the subsisting democratic environment in the country today gives us a lot of advantage in the pursuance of professionalism.

"Let me remind all officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army to remain loyal to constituted authorities, and be wholly committed to their constitutional responsibilities, and be apolitical at all times."

Dambazau exonerated the Army from the carnage in Jos, in which soldiers are accused of genocide, and warned the sponsors of violence countrywide to have a re-think in the interest of the nation.

He warned that Nigeria should not push its luck too far as any crisis that will make the United Nations to send in peace keepers will likely spell doom for the country.

"The Nigerian Army has in recent times noted with dismay some of the unnecessary, unwarranted, and inflammatory comments, statements, and utterances in some quarters capable of creating a sense of insecurity and dragging us back to the dark days of our nation's history.

"We are equally aware of the attempt by some people to drag the Army, which has remained neutral but absolutely committed to the survival of our nascent democracy, into the political affairs of this country.

"We also noted that some persons, who apparently do not value peace, are hell bent on creating disaffection between the military and the public, particularly with reference to the Jos crisis. Of course, we can safely assume that such persons find it impossible to commit other atrocities whenever we deploy to keep the peace, hence their frustration.

"Lest we forget, the military was swift and decisive in containing the Boko Haram debacle, and will therefore not hesitate to equally deal decisively with any form of mayhem whenever the need arises."

Dambazau said it is imperative that "the trouble makers in our midst," a negligible few, are not allowed to promote anarchy and their personal interest at the expense of the collective national interest and public order.

This is most important, he added, especially because experiences in peacekeeping operation have shown that at the end of it all, it is the poor, the elderly, women, and children who are the victims of such crises.

He reiterated that the military has made a lot of sacrifices for Nigeria's peace and stability, and will continue to maintain its neutral status, despite efforts to discourage that "through the campaigns of calumny recently experienced."

He noted that the military has seen the extent to which ethnic and religious crises ravaged many countries the world over.

"We participated in post-conflict stabilisation in many of such countries, we do not pray that we reverse the position in which citizens of other countries are sent to Nigeria for peace support operations.

"The Nigerian Army urges all stakeholders in our national affairs to eschew violence and promote peace and tranquility in Nigeria. This advice is borne out of our experiences of the consequences visited on countries that have gone through crisis lately."

Danbazau maintained that soldiers deployed in Jos are not given the order to shoot at anyone but maintain the peace.

"I have not received a mandate to enforce peace in Jos but only to maintain peace. We got directives to enforce peace during the Boko Haram crisis, and that was why we had to use minimal force in quelling the uprising.

"In the case of Jos, we were not given a mandate to enforce peace, so I can tell you authoritatively that no soldier deployed in Jos has fired a single shot at anybody. We have rules of engagement and we are sticking to them religiously."

In Abuja today, Senators will meet behind closed doors to deliberate on Yar'Adua's health and his continued absence from duty, 64 days after he was flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment.

They are expected to decide whether to issue a deadline to Yar'Adua to comply with Section 145 of the Constitution or transmit a letter to enable Vice President Goodluck Jonathan act in his absence.

Last Friday, the Abuja Federal High Court ordered the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to "deliberate within 14 days, consider and pass a resolution in accordance with Section 144 of the Constitution, whether the President is capable of discharging the functions of his office."

Daily Independent reported on Monday that Yar'Adua's loyalists are scrambling for a strategy to skirt the order.

It was the day his National Assembly (NASS) Adviser, Mohammed Aba-Aji, denied receiving any letter from the Villa for passage to lawmakers.

However, Northern Governors Forum (NGF) Chairman, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, has blamed the rotational arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the vacuum in Aso Rock.

He cautioned those clamouring for the implementation of the party's constitution instead of the Nigerian Constitution, and warned of danger if the PDP toys with the future of Nigerians by its failure to respect the Nigerian Constitution.

He reminded them that the Nigerian Constitution is above the PDP constitution.

Said he: "Rotation is not in the Nigerian Constitution, it is only in the constitution of the PDP, and the Nigerian Constitution is very specific in solving the immediate problem we have on our hands today, which states that when the President is not there, the Vice President should take over.

"There is no rotation of the Presidency or any elective position in Nigerian Constitution, except as contained in the constitution of the PDP, which is only a political party.

"Therefore the portion of the Nigeria Constitution which stipulates that the Vice President should take over affairs in the absence of the President should be allowed to take its course."

Daily Independent

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Hillary Clinton attacks corruption and bad governance in Nigeria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made scathing remarks on Nigeria's corruption and bad governance at a town hall meeting at the State Department in Washington, DC on Tuesday.

Answering a question from a departmental contractor, she described conditions in Nigeria as deteriorating.

"The corruption is unbelievable," she said. "When I did a town hall [meeting in August 2009] in Abuja, people were just literally standing and shouting about what it was like to live in a country where the elite was so dominant, where corruption was so rampant, where criminality was so pervasive."

Nigeria used to have a very high rate of literacy, she added, but in recent years illiteracy was growing and statistics measuring health were declining.

"The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can't just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others."

The town hall meeting in Washington was held to mark the first anniversary of clinton's term of office as President Barack Obama's Secretary of State.

She suggested that poor governance and deteriorating living conditions had made young Nigerians ripe targets for militants looking for recruits to attack the West.

"Nigeria is facing a threat from increasing radicalization that needs to be addressed, and not just by military means."

Clinton had been asked about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who is being held for allegedly trying to blow up an airliner carrying 300 passengers to the U.S. on Christmas Day. The Al Qaeda group in the Arabian peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for U.S. strikes on Yemeni soil.

Clinton said the U.S. government's information was that Abdulmutallab was disturbed by "his father's wealth and the kind of living conditions that he viewed as being not Islamic enough..."

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President Yar'adua returns this week

President Umaru Yar'adua's controversial two-month stay in a Saudi Arabian hospital will shortly come to an end when he returns to the country later this week, most likely on Friday, Daily Trust learnt from senior officials in Abuja and Jeddah last night.

The sources said elaborate arrangements have been made for the president's return, including a facelift of his office at the State House.

Sources said in Jeddah said Nigerian diplomatic officials there have been running around in recent days making final preparations for the president's impending departure. Although the officials said Yar'adua's health has improved a lot, it was not clear whether his impending return was hastened by increasing political pressure at home, including the two-week deadline given to the Federal Executive Council by Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Justice Dan Abutu to take a position on the president's ability to discharge his duties.

Incidentally, the Senate will tomorrow hold a crucial debate on the relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution and take a final position on the ill health of President Umaru Musa Yar'adua, which has kept him out of the country for 62 days today.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze (PDP, Enugu North) told Daily Trust last night that the Senate would check what its powers are under the constitution and invoke the relevant sections to deal with the crisis.

After a closed door meeting with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mahmud Yayale Ahmed last Thursday, Daily Trust gathered that Senate gave a Tuesday deadline to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to come up with a concrete solution to the president's absence or face stiff legislative action.

Some senators have been pushing for activation of Sections 143 or 144 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution which could see the president either impeached for refusal to comply with Section 145 or have his health status investigated. Ahead of the debate, Senate has denied allegations that some members of the National Assembly have been bribed to compromise their stance in the matter. Reacting to reports that some lawmakers have been paid to influence their views during the debate, Chairman Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze (PDP, Enugu North) said the allegation is false and unfounded.

He said, "The Senate cannot be compromised. Besides, there is no issue to contemplate settling anybody, outside the few individuals who have become accustomed to the culture of being settled on every issue."

Eze also said, "This is false and the figment of the fertile minds of some fifth columnists who think that by discrediting the National Assembly, they will have a field day in the polity.

"The Senate, being a responsible institution, is and will always be guided by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am aware that our constitution has guaranteed certain freedoms, including the information to hold and impart information. But in exercise of these freedoms we must have respect for other people's freedom."

On the proposed debate on the Presidents' health scheduled for tomorrow in the Senate, Eze said every member shall be entitled to his or her opinion "at the end of which we shall base our action on the aggregate view of all senators.

Even then, we shall be guided by the constitution in whatever we shall do or say. I urge Nigerians to be patient and shun self-seeking people who will always exploit every situation for their selfish gains. I have no doubt that some of the views in the papers were sponsored to cause panic and thereby stampede some people to seek out people for settlement."

Daily Trust

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60 percent of citizens don't have access to banks

A former staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Adviser to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the development and implementation of the Microfinance Certification Program in the country, Peter van Dijk, has revealed that 60 per cent of Nigerians are under banked.

Dijk, who made this disclosure in his paper "Inclusive Finance and Savings Mobilisation" presented at the 4th Annual Microfinance Conference and Entrepreneurship Awards at the weekend in Abuja advised the Nigerian government to use all the technology and knowledge it has to address the situation and reduce poverty among its citizens.

He said Nigeria has the best and most important precondition to build a sustainable and inclusive financial sector.

The country, Dijk added, has many people who are economically active with an economy of scale needed for an improvement outreach but government is yet to integrate this huge potential into building an inclusive financial sector.

"Nigeria has the resources financially and non financially to make a change" he observed, adding that "You now have to take it into you own hands: integrate the huge potential you have with around 60 per cent of your population still being un-under banked, use all the technology and knowledge you have and build an inclusive financial sector which will help to reduce the poverty among your citizens".

Dijk called on the highest executive level of government and in particular, the Federal Ministry of Finance to rapidly make the National Microfinance Policy a coherent document in the sense of the inclusive definition of microfinance and integrate it into the national financial sector development strategy FSS2020.

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