The Menace of Poverty and the Challenges of Public Policy Making in Nigeria (original) (raw)
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Appraising the Policies and Programmes of Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: A Critical View Point
International Journal of Administration and Development Studies, University of Maiduguri, 2013
There is no denying the fact that poverty is increasing both in breadth and depth in Nigeria, hence it is a monster that must be checked. However, no Nigerian Government, be it military or civilian has come without initiating and implementing one form of poverty reduction programme or the other and yet, the high level of poverty in the country has attained an endemic nature. This study is therefore an attempt to look at poverty reduction policies and programmes put in place by the successive administration and how these policies have impacted positively or negatively on the lives of the ordinary Nigerian. The major problems in these policies and programmes, developed over the years hinge on insufficient funding, corruption, politics and lack of continuity, a weak collaboration and coordination, an absence or lack of government will and sincere commitment. Again, such policies and programmes in Nigeria are also fraught with absence of enabling environment for the economy to thrive that delivers multiplier effects on other sectors within the country. To effectively achieve reducing poverty to an acceptable level, policies and strategies of poverty reduction need to address the actual problem of the poor in a holistic manner. Poverty issues cannot effectively be tackled in isolation of other governmental policies and the entire Nigerian environment of uncertainties. A successful poverty reduction policy therefore should focus on general socio economic growth and political development of the country. These will in turn generate wealth and enhance the skill of the people thereby reducing poverty.
Poverty as Development Challenge in Nigeria: An Assessment of Some Poverty Eradication Policies
2017
DOI: 10.21276/sjhss.2017.2.10.9 Abstract: Since independence in 1960 from British colonial rule, the various leadership of Nigeria have adopted various developmental strategies with view to reduce or to some extent do away with poverty but it could not, due to the complex nature of the country‟s poverty which can be termed as chronic. This is because poverty in Nigeria is persistent. It is estimated that up to 70% of Nigerians are living below poverty line. Nigeria has been branded by the international community as the second most corrupt nation in the World. For three consecutive years, 2000, 2001 and 2002, it has maintained that unenviable position. The rating came up as a consequence of several failed attempts by the administration to wipe out corruption and poverty or reduce them to a tolerable level in the polity. It is absolutely frustrating when one realizes the immense potentials in Nigeria. Sixteen years is enough time for any administration to sort out the fundamental prob...
African Journal of Business Management, 2009
Poverty is multi-dimensional. It is characterised by lack of purchasing power, exposure to risk, malnutrition, high mortality rate, low life expectancy, insufficient access to social and economic services, etc. Poverty in Nigeria has reached an alarming level and is blamed on non-clear government social policies. Across the world, government plays a key role in poverty alleviation. In the case of Nigeria, the inability of successive governments to streamlined and harness the enormous potentials for improved service delivery in all the existing structures of poverty eradication has resulted into persistent poverty. The paper seeks to explore the extent to which public policies have affected the poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria with special emphasis on National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP).
Poverty Alleviation Strategies and Governance in Nigeria
The paper takes a look at poverty as a global phenomenon but admits that the intensity and scale vary from one society to another. It asserts that there is widespread poverty in Nigeria despite its great endowments. The paper notes that successive regimes in Nigeria have been introducing different programmes to alleviate poverty. It established a link between poverty alleviation programmes (strategies) and governance and blamed the failure of such programmes on absence of good governance. The paper uses secondary data and adopted the elite theory to explain why poverty alleviation programmes fail in Nigeria bearing in mind some of the past programmes. Viable recommendations are made in the paper to ensure the success of future programmes of government. Introduction The high level of poverty in Nigeria, which has attained an endemic nature, is becoming worrisome. Poverty has made Nigeria to attain an unenviable status as one of the poorest countries in the world, such that no government (no matter the level), organization, community, clan or family can survive effectively without introducing one kind of poverty reduction strategy or the other. This problem is essentially not that of programme and strategies so adapted in poverty reduction efforts. Nigeria has not been known to lack in such efforts; yet she is still ranked among the world's 25 poorest nations (World Bank, 2002; http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.economics.20120202.02.html\_br). Political instability and absence of good governance witnessed by Nigeria over time subjected the various poverty alleviation initiatives to fickleness. As a new regime comes on board, it signals a death knell to the past policies irrespective of the successes recorded. Indeed, there is no gain saying the fact that the formulation and implementation of poverty alleviation programmes are part of the important processes of democratic governance in modern nation-state with a desire for socioeconomic development and crave the provision of the most needed dividends of democratic governance towards enhancing poverty reduction and national security. Nigeria is a state known to have formulated, articulated policies aimed at providing solutions to her numerous problem and development challenges. In fact, the fate of many policy programmes have been that of poor, callous, haphazard implementation and abandonment majorly as a result of perennial political instability as well as bad governance. Poverty is a global phenomenon which affects continents, nations, and people differently. It afflicts people in various depth and levels at different times and phases of existence. There is no nation that is absolutely free from poverty. The main difference is the intensity and prevalence of this malaise. Nations in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America are currently with the highest level of poverty and consequently with the lowest level of socioeconomic development, violence, and unrest and generally unacceptable low standard of living.
Politics of poverty alleviation programs in Nigeria: challenges and prospects
2016
Poverty is a social evil that affects the economic growth and development of different countries. This paper uses literature and power theory to examine the politics of poverty alleviation before, during and after the implementation of the structural adjustment program in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Findings from the study reveals that over fifteen poverty alleviation programs were implemented like National Poverty Eradication Program but poverty remains at an alarming rate in the country. However, many reasons were attributed to the perpetual economic, social, psychological and political denial in the country.The high rate of absolute and relative poverty is as a result of political instability, inadequate policy continuity, especially during the military era. Similarly, corruption, mismanagement of resources allocated for these programs, the social evils in the aspects of violence, terrorism, insurgencies, communal and inter-religious conflicts crippled the poverty reduction ...
AN APPRAISAL OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES IN NIGERIAN
Elite Project Writers, 2019
The fight against poverty has been a central plank of development planning in Nigeria since independence. Observers have unanimously agreed that successive government’s interventions have failed to achieve the objectives for which they were established. It is against this background that the paper examines the various government policies targeted towards poverty alleviation in Nigeria with a view to, come up with policy recommendations for effective and efficient implementation of such policies. Exploration into the literature revealed that governments in power often seek to introduce their own policy and in the process, any other policy inherited from successors are either abandoned absolutely or rendered impotent. There is therefore lack of succession planning and some governments even watch their baby program dying prematurely to give birth to another with different orientation and strategic focus and as such the paper recommends that all programs centered towards poverty alleviation should henceforth be harmonized under the same umbrella, and each unit being accountable and responsible for their actions.
2023
Various policies and programs to combat poverty had been wilfully invented by Nigeria's successive governments with the intent of salvaging the ceaseless concerns of unemployment, poverty and social economic imbalance. However, in some instances, the scheme is concomitantly tilted towards ameliorating the swiftness of disturbances that comes with being unemployed and poor among youth in most localities as well as states of the nation. This study examines Policy Failure in Nigeria; A study of Goodluck Jonathan/Buhari's Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Nigeria. The paper examined the impact of Poverty alleviation policies in Nigeria with particular reference to the programmes of Presidents Jonathan and Buhari's administration. The paper adopts the advocacy coalition theory as a framework for analysis and employs historical/descriptive methods with data collected through Independent research in relevant databases (journal articles, newspaper publications) and expert opinions and factor analysis was used in identifying the circumstances that characterizes the poverty alleviation programmes under study. The paper discusses the components of the poverty alleviation programmes and provides reasons for their failure. The paper recommends that policymakers always do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis of policies at different points in time to determine their performances against public policy goals and objectives. Additional, the Nigerian government must look at policies from a world viewpoint, drawing guidance and tutelage from different sociopolitical systems and environments and working to improve them.
2019
The level of poverty in Nigeria is on the increase in spite of various poverty alleviation programs formulated and implemented successive governments. A recent report by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) attested to this assertion and maintained that the country is the poverty capital of the world. On this premise, the study examined the role of government intervention in poverty alleviation in Ogun and Oyo States. The study adopted convergent parallel design. The population of the study was 1,220 (150 officials of the National Directorate of Employment and 1,070 beneficiaries) in Ogun and Oyo states. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used for collection of quantitative data while interview guide was used for collection of qualitative data. The response rate of the questionnaire was 80%. Descriptive statistics was employed in the analysis of the quantitative data, while qualitative data were content analysed. The study concluded that majority of ...
Policy Implementation and The Challenges of Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria
Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2014
The rising profile of poverty in Nigeria has been a source of concern to successive government. To this end, various policies and programmes have been formulated to no avail. Today Nigeria ranked among poorest nations in the world. This is embarrassing considering the enormous wealth of the nation both in human and natural resources. This paper assesses government programmes and policies related to poverty in Nigeria using secondary source of data through content analysis. It was found that the policies and programme have failed to achieve the desired result due to high level of corruption, Top-bottom approach in tackling poverty, inadequate coordination of various programmes, politicization of poverty alleviation schemes as well as inconsistency in policies and programmes. It therefore recommended that Anti-corruption Agencies should be streamlined, the adoption of bottom-up approach, de-politicization of empowerment scheme as well as continuity, consistency and commitment for effective implementation.
Victor Chidubem Iwuoha & Kelechukwu Charles Obi, 2012
"In Nigeria, people are no longer suffering and smiling, as Fela sang, but, suffering and dying. Hence, the growing incidences of poverty and concomitant problems in Nigeria are, indeed, critical issues of concern and contention. The bulk of the matter hinges upon finding apt solutions and strategies to open up and unburden human beings form abject poverty. Thus, numerous ways are sought, to rapidly and timely enhance human capacity. The National Poverty Alleviation Programme (NAPEP) is yet another effort, by the Federal Government, in this direction. Accordingly, NAPEP has had its generous footage in Enugu State of Nigeria, in the course of its confident voyage across the country. This paper is, therefore, a genuine effort to evaluate the implementation of NAPEP programmes in Enugu State and its overall outcome and impact on human capacity enhancement. The descriptive survey method of data collection is adopted. In this way, we obtained our primary data through the distribution of questionnaire, which was designed for selected beneficiaries of NAPEP programmes in the three major zones in Enugu State. In addition, our method of data analysis was based on the use of simple frequency and percentages. We argue, principally, that the implementation of NAPEP programmes, including the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES), has not tangibly reflected upon high feasibility of human capacity enhancement in Enugu State. We conclude that there is urgent need for different levels of governments in Nigeria to exhibit more political will and commitment in the fight against poverty and its attendant problems in the country."