Category: Campus Life

Agbo Agbo

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Eradicating poverty and achieving development is one of the top priorities of the developing world. At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, leaders of various countries passed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with poverty reduction as a primary goal. They thus launched a massive anti-poverty movement across the world. Again, at the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Summit, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted with poverty reduction as its primary goal.

Last April the international charity, Oxfam, revealed that the number of extreme poor in Nigeria had skyrocketed to 94.4 million people, with 3 million having been added to the figure in just six months. As mentioned last week, Nigeria, in 2017, overtook India as the world’s poverty capital. India’s has 70 million destitute which is 5.124 percent of a total population of 1.36 billion. Nigeria’s 94.5 million poor constitute 47.2 percent of our current estimated population of 200 million. Nearly a half of our populations are living under the shackle of poverty.

Nigeria’s current status as the world capital of poverty is nothing short of a national embarrassment. We are supposed to be OPEC’s sixth biggest oil exporter and Africa’s biggest economy by far. And we are richly endowed with natural resources. It is damaging to both our national honour and our external image and standing in the world comity of nations.

Poverty is popularly defined as lack of sufficient material resources to live a decent life in society. Distinctions are often made between absolute poverty, which refers to the complete lack of access to basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing; and relative poverty, which refers to a condition where people cannot meet their own basic needs relative to the minimum standards that obtain within a society. This notwithstanding, some countries have tackled poverty head-on. China is a classic case study.

So, how did China tackle poverty? Through government-led massive poverty alleviation and development work, the government helped more than 700 million people cast off poverty according to China’s national poverty line. The rural poverty-stricken population was reduced to 30.46 million by the end of 2017, with the poverty incidence dropping to 3.1%. The government included poverty alleviation into its “Five-Sphere Integrated Plan” – a plan to promote coordinated economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological advancement – and the “Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy” – a strategy of comprehensive moves to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepen reform, and advance law-based governance.

In November 2015, the government issued what it termed “The Decision” on winning the fight against poverty. According to analysts, these anti-poverty efforts were unparalleled in terms of their intensity, scale and influence as it achieved one of the greatest progress of poverty reduction in history. At the end of 2012, there were 98.99 million people living under the current poverty line. By the end of 2017, the total poverty-stricken population stood at 30.46 million, with more than 66 million people being lifted out of poverty over five years. Those living under the current poverty line were further reduced by over two thirds.

The strategy targeted poverty-stricken counties which began in 1986. By 2016, 28 poverty-stricken counties were among the first batch to shake off poverty, which marked the first decline in the total number of poor counties. In 2017, about 100 counties were lifted out of poverty

The Chinese strategy followed seven clear paths. They started with setting clear poverty reduction goals. The first goal steadily guaranteed sufficient food and clothing, compulsory education, basic health care, and housing security for the rural poor population. As a result, the per capita disposable income increase among the impoverished farmers is expected to surpass the national average level by 2020.

Second, all the poverty-stricken people were registered with the government. In 2014, the government started to collect the accurate data of the poor population. 800,000 people were sent to different villages for this purpose. They delineated 128,000 poverty-stricken villages, 29.48 million poor households and 89.62 million impoverished people altogether and basically got a clear picture of the distribution, poverty causes and poverty reduction needs of the impoverished population.

From August 2015 to June 2016, nearly 2 million people across the country were again mobilised to continue this work, as a complement to the previous round of registration. Another 8.07 million poor people got registered, and 9.29 million people who had been wrongly recognised as poverty-stricken were removed from the list. The accuracy of recognition was therefore further enhanced. Registration of the poor population enabled China to gather the poverty data specifically from each person, household and village.

Thirdly, they implemented a targeted poverty alleviation strategy. To achieve accuracy in project arrangements, fund use, implementation of measures, dispatch of poverty reduction officials to villages, and effects of poverty reduction, they carried out the “five-batch” policy to help the registered poverty-stricken population shake off poverty through industrial development, transfer employment, relocation, education and medical assistance. The “five-batch” policy denotes that one batch shall be lifted out of poverty via industrial development, relocation, eco-compensation, education, and social security. As for those who have lost all or part of their ability to work, they will be lifted out of poverty through the social security policies.

Next, they established the “seven institutional systems.” The first is an accountability system. Under this, the central government makes overall arrangements; provincial governments take responsibilities, while city and county governments implement specific projects. The second is a policy system where a top-down, well-coordinated policy system take different policies for poor households. The State Council then issued a poverty alleviation plan for the 13th “Five-Year Plan” period (2016-2020); central and state organs released 118 policy documents or implementation plans, and local governments introduced and improved their poverty alleviation documents. These documents and plans have provided targeted solutions to many long-standing, big and difficult problems, covering poverty alleviation through industrial development, relocation, labour export, transportation, water conservancy, education, health improvement, financial development, renovation of dilapidated houses, linkage with land increase or decrease, and assets income.

The next strategy encompassed an investment system that guarantees the investment of financial and human resources. In 2016, the special funds for poverty alleviation allocated by the central and local governments exceeded 100 billion yuan ($14.23 billion) for the first time. An additional 72.6 billion yuan ($10.38 billion) of financial bonds specially for relocation was issued, and the figure is expected to top 350 billion ($49.8 billion) in the next few years.

An assistance system with officials stationed in villages was also implemented. This requires that there should be a resident task force in every poor village and ‘person-in-charge’ for every poor household to achieve full coverage. The government dispatched a total of 775,000 officials to station in villages for a period of 1 to 3 years. This was followed by a social mobilisation system that encourages extensive public participation. To ensure success, a multi-channel, all-round supervision system was put in place. A poverty hotline, “12317” for poverty alleviation supervision was set up. It paved the way for disciplined inspection, supervision and auditing thereby applying all results to assessment and inspection.

The establishment of the most strict assessment system is the seventh. The central government introduced a method to assess the poverty alleviation and development effects of provincial committees and governments. From 2016 to 2020, an annual assessment will be carried out. The assessment mainly focuses on poverty reduction effects, accurate identification, targeted assistance, the use and management of poverty alleviation funds and other aspects, to guide poverty-relief efforts and ensure the quality of poverty alleviation. The completion of poverty alleviation task in 22 central and western provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities took place in 2016. This was assessed through inter-provincial cross examination and third-party assessment, referring to poverty monitoring data and registration data, and the performance evaluation, audit and social supervision of the use and management of special poverty-relief funds.

From the foregoing we can see that China’s approach to poverty reduction is militant and organised; it is therefore not surprising that they made positive headway.

From Hamzat Ibrahim

A team from the National Universities Commission (NUC)  has accredited programmes of the Mass Communication Department at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai, Niger state.

The team inspected the department’s facilities – the radio studio, newsroom, television studio, photography studio, public relations units, and lecture halls.

It expressed satisfaction with the state of the facilities, urging the department’s leadership to do more to boost the performance and exposure of the students to  practicals.

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In an interaction session with the students, the team leader, Prof. Umar Faruk, urged the students to be respectful and embrace peace irrespective of their religion, tribe or state of origin to bring development  to the department.

He advised students to engage in ventures, such as photography, freelancing, videography and writing to aim little while in school for sustenance.

Speaking during the team’s meeting with the university leadership, Jibril praised them for putting in place good learning and research facilities.

On his part, the IBBU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mohammed Nasiru Maiturare, thanked the team for its objectivity.

Similarly, the departments of computer science and biology were also accredited.

In the first part of this series, we saw how a theory on national security helped explained how the dramatic abduction of 110 schoolgirls from their school by Boko Haram militants could’ve happened. The theory gave us a clear perspective in understanding the buck passing between Ibrahim Gaidam, the former Yobe State governor, the military and the police on where to lay the blame. In the second, we saw how the application of the wrong economic theory can lead a nation on the path to underdevelopment and failure. The third part last week tackled issues arising from the implementation of SAP, especially how it applied to the education sector. We shall focus our attention today on the issue of poverty.

In an event in September,  last year, the co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, singled out Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as countries that need “to invest more in human development as this is the only sure means to curb the rising poverty level in both counties.”

According to him, there is the urgent need to channel more investment towards health, family planning and education as a means of human development as this is the only way in which poverty can be alleviated.

Speaking on the Goalkeepers data report released some days to the event, Gates said Africa is a young continent so there is a need to invest in young people. The report was the second edition published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to discuss several aspects of work done across the globe. The first Goalkeepers data report was published in 2017. The report tracks progress on 18 key Sustainable Development Goals  (SDGs) indicators and analyse promising approaches to achieving the goals.

Citing the report, Gates said by 2050, more than 40 per cent of the extremely poor people in the world will live in Nigeria and the DRC. Nigeria has the highest number of extremely poor people as it took over from India which used to hold the unenviable position. A Brooking Institution report in June, last year said  many Nigerians in extreme poverty increases by six people every minute. Although the Nigerian economy came out of recession that year, many Nigerians slipped into extreme poverty.

When I first read Gates scathing comments what immediately came to my mind was the “Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017-2020 (EPGR)” which is the present government’s document in tackling poverty. Before the document, there was the “National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)” of the Obasanjo administration drafted in 2004 as Nigeria’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. Have we been applying the wrong theories in tackling poverty? If we have, what are the best models or theories to adopt?

For the records, the objectives of ERGP are three-fold: restoring growth, macroeconomic stability and engendering economic diversification. The EPRG intends to achieve this by driving fiscal stimulus (through increased  government  spending),  ensure  monetary  stability,  improve  the  balance  of  trade  and  focus  on key  sectors  that  drive  and  enable  growth  (such  as  agriculture,  energy,  Micro,  Small  and  Medium Enterprises  (MSMEs),  manufacturing  and  services.

The ERGP would achieve the above by, leveraging on information technology.  Secondly,  ERGP  also  aims  to  invest  in  the  Nigerian people  by  continuing  to  provide  support  for  the  economically-disadvantaged,  create  jobs,  improve accessibility, affordability  and  quality  of  healthcare  across  the  country  and  guarantee  improved  human capital through access to basic quality education for all.

Finally, the ERGP aims to significantly increase investment in infrastructure through robust Public Private Partnership arrangements, simplify and improve the legal and regulatory framework for doing business in Nigeria and promote digital-led growth through the expansion of broad band coverage.

To implement the plan, the administration proposed a budget of 7.2 trillion naira for the 2017 fiscal year. Other actions taken so far include signing of executive orders  that  aims to achieve ease of doing business in Nigeria as well as another that aims to shore up tax revenue as a way of reducing the reliance of crude oil revenue.

How will the objectives of ERGP be realised given the fact that over 196 firms were shut and over two million jobs lost due to the recession? Would the ERGP be able to transform the Nigerian economy? Some economic analysts see ERGP as a well-thought-out and well-written blueprint that is capable of thrusting the economy to recovery and growth but expresses reservation on the ability of the government to muster the political will to implement the plan.

If studied closely, it would appear Gates and the government agrees because the EPRG has aspects that captures what the former Microsoft boss advocated. Since the EPRG aims to invest in people by providing support, creating jobs and improving accessibility to healthcare and education, they may be on the same page? But it is not as it seems. Gates pointed out that poverty in Nigeria is concentrated within certain areas and in a very unique form. He said the increasing poverty rate was largely as a result of the ongoing violence, political instability, gender inequality, severe climate change and “other deep seated crises.”

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Other factors he identified as intensifying the poverty rate include the high rates of child mortality and malnutrition. “As a result, today’s poorest people have significantly fewer opportunities than most of the billions of people who escaped poverty during the first two waves,” The conclusion to him is clear: “to continue improving the human condition, our task now is to help create opportunities in Africa’s fastest-growing, poorest countries. Specifically, it means investing in their health and education, or what economists call, human capital.”

This is the bedrock of their report: “in this year’s (2018) Goalkeepers report, we take an honest look at the challenges presented by the demographics of extreme poverty. We explore what it will take in the areas of health, education, and economic opportunity to position Africa’s booming youth population to transform the continent.”

He was quick to point out that human capital is not a magic bullet, but has played a pivotal role in the success of emerging economies around the world.

“Young people in the poorest countries are denied opportunities to build better lives as people worry about insecurity, instability, and mass migration. Projections show that human-capital investments can do the same for the poorest countries in Africa.

“We wish they would also recognise young people’s enormous potential to drive economic growth. They are the activists, innovators, leaders, and workers of the future. Investing in young people’s health and education is the best way for a country to unlock productivity and innovations, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity,” he said.

Prior to his submission in September, last year, Gates had, six months earlier, pointed out during a visit to Nigeria that the government needs to re-evaluate its economic blueprint because it does not prioritise investment in human capital. He said the government’s ERGP identifies “investing in our people as one of three strategic objectives but the execution priorities do not fully reflect people’s needs: prioritising physical capital over human capital.”

So, Gates conclusion is inescapable: Nigeria’s economy tomorrow depends on improving its schools today. The same is true of health which should also be primary focus area. According to him, human capital is a prerequisite for economic development because it may be easier to capture the importance of investments in human capital by analysing the impact they have on individuals.

“Across sub-Saharan Africa, these investments could increase the size of the economy by nearly 90 per cent by 2050, making it much more likely that the poorest countries can break through their stagnation and follow the path of China and India. There are blueprints for investing successfully in human capital,” he said.

Gates added that if the countries and developmental partners invest more in human capital today, “young people wearing sandals in the poorest, fastest growing countries will be riding bicycles tomorrow – and inventing cheaper, cleaner, safer cars next week and that’s good for everyone.”

I find it interesting, yet not surprising, that Bill Gates sees Africa as the future and Nigeria as its very heart, yet our policy makers can’t see this?