There are depressing statistics from the United Nations (UN) about the number of people sliding into the poverty bracket every minute around the world with almost half of humanity living in poverty. On October 17 every year, the UN again tickles the conscience of the world on the issues of poverty. This year, the theme is: “Coming together with those furthest behind to build an inclusive world of universal respect for human rights and dignity.” While many countries including India would celebrate the milestones in reducing poverty in their midst, for others especially in sub Saharan Africa, it is a day for sober reflections.
Nigeria has nothing to cheer about on October 17. In June, the Brookings Institute, based on the projections by the World Poverty Clock had announced that Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with the largest number of people living in extreme poverty with about 87 million people living below the poverty line.
The report also indicated that at least six Nigerians fall into the poverty line every minute and the number is expected to grow if current trend continues. In August, speaking ahead of her scheduled visit to Nigeria, British Prime Minister, Theresa May made undisguised allusion to this report by Brookings Institute reinforcing the fact that 87 million Nigerians earn less than $1.90.
In 1995, the United Nations (UN) adopted two definitions of poverty: absolute and overall poverty. The world body says absolute poverty is “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services.”
The body defines overall poverty as lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. However, three years later the UN came up with a comprehensive definition of poverty as “a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to; not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities.”
But apart from the obvious connections between poverty, social justice and human rights, another strong connection with poverty in Nigeria is corruption. Corruption can be a cause and consequence of poverty. This is when we consider the social cost of corruption and explain the reasons why infrastructure, healthcare, education and even salaries are in comatose is because the funds allocated for it are in the bank accounts of a few. This brings the citizens to a position where according to the UN, the citizen cannot participate effectively in society. When state and local governments fail to pay salaries and pension and workers cannot afford the basic necessities of life, corruption will breed poverty and may lead to violence.
Recently, some Non-Governmental Organisations came together to tackle corruption from another prism by getting the citizens involved in the fight. The project titled: Strengthening Citizens Resistance Against Prevalence of Corruption (SCRAP-C) through its Upright for Nigeria; Stand against Corruption campaign aims to influence social norms and attitudes that help corruption thrive in Nigeria with a view to effect a social change. The campaign is leveraging on social capital and social networks to promote a corruption-averse mentality.
The campaign, driven by a group of Nigerian Civil Society Organizations including Action Aid Nigeria (AAN), Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) and the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) is designed to challenge the current beliefs that make corruption acceptable. It hopes to instil positive values such as integrity, honesty, transparency and hard work, to change the corruption narrative in Nigeria.
SCRAP C call to action is directed at the citizens preferring to focus on the demand side of the war against corruption. It encourages citizens to resist, report and discourage corrupt practices and they are expected to among others; refuse to participate in corrupt practices, refuse to take bribes or receive gratification before carrying out services, uphold values of honesty, integrity and hard work, speak out against corruption, hold yourselves and colleagues accountable and engage in campaign activities to promote anti-corruption.
The Upright for Nigeria campaign is also asking citizens to ask questions and play a part in ending corruption. It has already rolled out in seven states across the geo-political zones with campaigns and jingles on broadcast and social media with the hashtag #uprightfornigeria.
Some commentators say the campaign is taking on a behemoth task which has defied efforts by successive governments, others believe corruption is endemic to Nigeria and cannot be eradicated. However, the believe of SCRAP-C is to get Nigerians who feel the brunt of corruption on the wagon, change the corruption perception, establish a culture that would stop the glorification of corrupt acts in communities and ensure that citizens demand justice from the government against indicted corrupt officials.
The youths are not left out; SCRAP-C has deployed innovative and modern tools to reach out especially on the social media. There is a mobile application that would enable citizen’s report anonymously and in real time acts of corruption downloadable from Google Play store under the name “UprightforNigeria” there are animations featuring Mr. and Mrs. Upright teaching the values of integrity, honesty and transparency.
While corruption has been defined as fraudulent acts that typically involve government officials and bribery, its tentacles reach further than that to include every act of indiscipline. This implies that even throwing trash out of the car is corruption, running the red light and jumping queues. This is the message of SCRAP-C, getting Nigerians to the point that every act of corruption will become repulsive and those who use the proceeds of corruption to influence us will no longer be able to have that edge over us.
- Akioye, a journalist is with Centre for Communication and Social Impacts and writes from Abuja.