BY JIDE AYOBOLU
The Presidency said that returned $311 which was part of the money
allegedly stolen by the late former Head of State, Gen. Sanni Abacha has
been allocated for infrastructure development in the country. The
Presidency also said that part of the returned loot in 2019 was being
used for grain grants and free school feeding programs, adding that
without the returned Abacha funds, the fight against Covid-19 would be
even tougher.
The Presidency specifically said that the recently returned finds have
already been allocated for vital and decades-overdue infrastructure
development like the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and
Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways and in the Mambilla Power Project. This
was disclosed in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to
the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in Abuja. The
statement titled, “The return of the Abacha stole millions from the
United States and Jersey” noted that the latest returned the money and
the ones before it was a testament to the growing and deepening
relationship between the government of Nigeria and the government of the
United States. It read in part,” On Monday, May 4, 2020, some $311
million US Dollars – stolen from the citizens of Nigeria during the
Abacha regime – were safely returned to our country from the United
States.
These funds have already been allocated, and will be used in full, for
vital and decades-overdue infrastructure development: The second Niger
Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways – creating
tens of thousands of Nigerian construction jobs and local skills, which
can then be useful in future projects. “Part of the funds will also be
invested in the Mambilla Power Project which, when completed, will
provide electricity to some three million homes – over ten million
citizens – in our country.” Without argument, these are projects
that can drastically reduce poverty in the polity, generate employment
and help in wealth creation.
The receipt of these stolen monies – and the hundreds of millions more
that have already been returned from the United Kingdom and Switzerland
– are an opportunity for the development of our nation, made far
harder for those decades the country was robbed of these funds.
“Indeed, previous monies returned last year from Switzerland – some
$320 million US dollars – are already being used for the
government’s free school feeding scheme, a stipend for millions of
disadvantaged citizens, and grain grants for those in severe food
hardship.” Continuing, the Presidency said, “Without these funds,
the fight against Covid-19 would be even tougher. “The latest return
is a testament to the growing and deepening relationship between the
government of Nigeria and the government of the United States.
“Without cooperation both from the UK Government, the US Executive
branch and US Congress, we would not have achieved the return of these
funds at all.”
The Presidency said that for years many countries deemed successive
Nigerian administrations as too corrupt, too venal and too likely to
squander and re-steal the stolen monies – so they did not return the
funds. It, however, said,” Today, US, UK and other jurisdictions have
found the partnership with the nation of Nigeria they can finally trust.
” The Buhari Administration is committed to – and is enacting –
total and zero tolerance to corruption in politics and public
administration. “The days when the government was seen and used by the
political class as their personal ATM to empty are over. “The time of
better governance and clean hands in the affairs of state is here to
stay.”
There is no doubt that if the funds are strategically deployed as
planned by the federal government, it would help in no small measure to
stem the ugly tide of poverty in the country; poverty is ubiquitous and
government has put in place various programme to address the fundamental
cause of poverty in the polity. However, the recently returned funds
would play a very big role to stop the sporadic spread of poverty in the
polity.
It would be recalled that, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS says
82.9 million Nigerians (40.1 percent) of the population are poor. The
bureau disclosed this in its 2019 Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria
study released on Monday. The report indicates that on average, 4 out of
10 individuals in Nigeria has real per capital expenditures below
137,430 Naira per year.
This translates to over 82.9 million Nigerians who are considered poor
by national standards. The Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS) is
the official survey that is the basis for measuring poverty and living
standards. The study which was conducted by NBS between September of
2018 and October of 2019, is the latest round of the NLSS after a
decade. The survey was representative at the state level with a sample
size of 22,110 households, focusing on increasing the understanding of
living conditions of the Nigerian population. It collected data on
household and individual demographics (age, gender, marital status,
among others), access to education, health and basic services,
employment, assets, and income. The survey is used to measure prevalence
of poverty and to estimate a wide range of socio-economic indicators
including benchmarking of the Sustainable Development Goals. The scope
according to the NBS, include all the 36 states in the country and FCT
except Borno due to insurgency in the area. Given that NLSS 2018-19 is
not technically comparable to either the NLSS 2003-04 and to 2009-10,
the bureau said it is not possible to compare poverty levels between
2003-04, 2009-10 and 2018-19.
In order to compare poverty rates across time, it stated that the
underlying data should be collected in similar method, adding that the
way the data is collected has great effect on the values reported by
households. According to the study, 2019 study was accordingly treated
as a base study and any comparisons with previous poverty studies should
be treated with caution. Further look into the survey showed that with
Nigeria’s 40.09 percent poverty rate, the country still have 12.85
percent poverty gap index and 5.63 percent poverty squared gap index. On
the urban and rural scale, the country recorded 18.04 percent poverty
rate in the urban areas, 4.47 percent gap index and 1.68 percent gap
square index, the in the rural areas the study shows 52.10 percent
poverty rate, 17.42 percent gap index and 7.78 percent gap square
index. On the state by state basis, Sokoto and Taraba led the log with
87.73 percent and 87.72 percent poverty rate respectively, while Lagos
and Delta state led the chat on the less poverty ravaged states with
6.50 percent and 6.02 percent.
Also, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Delta ranked as second
least poor state in the country.
The bureau, in its latest Poverty Index Report, ranked Delta second
after Lagos among the states with low poverty rate, and said that 40.1
per cent of Nigeria’s total population was poor. According to it, an
average of four out of 10 individuals in Nigeria have real per capita
expenditures below N137, 430 per year, meaning that monthly income of an
individual in this category is less than N11,500 while income per day is
N383.03. The report said “Lagos State has 4.50 per cent poverty head
count rate and closely trailed by Delta with 6.02 per cent.
“The report translates to over 82.9 million Nigerians considered as
poor by national standard.” In his reaction, Commissioner for
Information in Delta, Mr Charles Aniagwu, said in Asaba that the report
was a reflection of the “Prosperity for all Deltans’’ agenda being
vigorously pursued by the Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa administration. He also
stated that due to the enabling investment climate created by the Okowa
led government, particularly in oil bearing communities, Delta had been
one of the highest revenue earners from Federation Accounts Allocation
Committee (FAAC) which also indicated that the state government had been
putting into judicious use the monies accrued to the state. Aniagwu
thanked the NBS for conducting living standards survey 10 years after
the last one and for using consumption expenditures approach in
measuring poverty in Nigeria rather than income approach.
According to him, conceptually, consumption expenditures better reflect
the achievements of a particular level of welfare by a household, while
income represents the opportunity of reaching a certain level of
well-being. “The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Monday, May 4,
2020, released the long-awaited Nigeria Poverty and Inequality Survey
Report 2019. “The report places Delta State as the second least poor
(poverty reduction milestone) State in Nigeria, after Lagos. “This
particular survey, conducted with support from the World Bank, recorded
a clear departure from the previous exercises, especially in the area of
methodology where the consumption expenditures approach was adopted.
“With the new national poverty line at N137, 430 or $361 per person
per annum, which translates to $0.98 per day and captures about 40 per
cent of the total population, it shows considerable improvement over the
years. “In the last couple of years Delta has remained one of the
highest earners in the country in terms of crude oil revenues due to the
peaceful relations between International Oil Companies IOCs and host
communities. “The Okowa administration in his first tenure promised
Deltans prosperity for all and in his second term he said he would build
a stronger Delta in terms of the economy, projects and of course,
peaceful relations. “The NBS rating is a pointer to the fact that
Delta’s resources have been put to judicious use by the Okowa-led
government thereby reducing poverty to a level that we can boldly say
that we are working. “Our desire as a state is to come top in the
country and also further improve the standard of living of Deltans in
line with best global standards,” he stated. The report indicated that
Sokoto, Taraba, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Yobe and Adamawa lead the
poorest states in the country. The survey is used to measure prevalence
of poverty and to estimate a wide range of socio-economic indicators,
including benchmarking of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
President Muhammadu Buhari’s recently promise to lift 100 million
Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. President Buhari made the solemn
promise in his inaugural address for his second term in office read on
the occasion of the maiden June 12 event to mark the return of Nigeria
to democracy 20 years ago. He said his administration would henceforth
begin to lay the foundation for accomplishing the poverty redemption
goal by offering leadership with a sense of purpose. Consequently,
Buhari pledged that the next four years would be dedicated to improving
the living standards of the people, tackling emerging challenges,
resettling the displaced communities and addressing insecurity in all
parts of the country. That extreme poverty is prevalent in Nigeria is
common knowledge. The manifestations are everywhere in the deplorable
living condition of so many citizens. Many citizens can hardly afford a
meal a day. But the government is constantly putting modalities in place
to deal decisively with poverty.