Banning Commercial Motorcycle Operators, Miners will Deepen Poverty, Insecurity, iNGO Warns

An international nongovernmental organisation (iNGO), the ActionAid Nigeria, has decried the federal government’s proposed nationwide ban on commercial motorcycles and illegal mining activities in order to stem the rising insecurity across the country, stressing that such action will further deepen the national multi-dimensional poverty index. This was contained in a statement signed by the ActionAid Nigeria's Communication Coordinator, Lola Ayanda, and made available to journalists in Lokoja on Monday. The group was reacting to the statement by credited to Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, that placing a ban on the use of motorcycles and mining activities may cut the supply of logistics and source of funds for the purchase of arms to the terrorists, adding that while this is being contemplated in the national interest to combat insecurity, there must be alternatives to lessen the effects of the attendant loss of livelihoods on the people that will be affected. ActionAid Nigeria, therefore, recommended among other things that Nigeria must put a robust social safety net in place to buffer the impact of the planned ban. According to the group, "In addition, the country must invest in agriculture value-chain, girl-child education, prioritise the health and well-being of its citizenry and enhance economic opportunities while embracing technology to improve economic productivity and opportunities for the citizens. "In essence, the government must encourage investments and job creation to engage those that will lose their livelihoods. AAN and other development partners are available to work with the government at all levels to create a sustainable alternative for this population. "Nigeria may find it hard to contain crimes and tackle poverty if adequate alternatives are not implemented before the planned ban. While it is vital for us to do everything possible to deal with threats to national security or the country’s corporate existence, we urge the federal government to give the options being considered human face as the well-being of Nigerians should be prioritised. This will help to reduce livelihood and monetary poverty that will stem from the planned ban on ‘Okada’ riders and miners. "Regardless of the means being considered for the proposed ban on commercial motorcycle operations’, artisanal and small-scale miners, it must be implemented in a way that will not further worsen the country’s dire economic situation. "A World Bank report has already noted that the number of poor persons in Nigeria will rise to 95.1 million in 2022. The number of poor people was 89.0 million in 2020. This means that over 6.1 million more persons would have fallen into the poverty bracket between 2020 and 2022, a 6.7 percent increase. With the projected 2022 figures, the number of poor persons in Nigeria has had a four-year increase of 14.7 percent from the 2018/19 figure of 82.1 million to the projected 95.1 million in 2022. "In Nigeria, the poverty rate has been aided by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the growing population, the high level of inflation, which stood at 18.6 percent as of June 2022 and the harsh effects of the Ukraine-Russia warfare. "This development is coming after the Nigerian Government said it lifted 10.5 million Nigerians out of poverty between 2019 and 2021. Though the president has repeatedly said the Bank of Industry has created nine million jobs in the country since 2015, and different schemes to create jobs and tackle poverty in the country have been launched, these have failed to stem the tide of poverty in the country."