A new report launched on Tuesday in Abuja by Oxfam has
revealed that 69 per cent of Nigerians are living below the poverty line.
Oxfam is a confederation of 20 independent charitable
organisations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty.
The report also revealed that Nigeria ranks 125 out of 145
countries on gender Inequality Index, adding that government at national and
sub-national level is exacerbating inequality by under-funding public service,
such as healthcare, education, water and sanitation and women's empowerment.
Oxfam in Nigeria Interim Country Director, Mr. Constant Tchona,
who disclosed this at the launch of the first regional report on Commitment to
Reducing Inequality Index (CRII), by
Oxfam in West Africa and Development Finance International and the Office of
Senior Special Adviser to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP
SDGs).
He said that the index measures of the report compared and
ranks West Africa governments' commitment on three pillars; public spending;
Taxation and Labour markets.
According to the report, "The index reveals that 69 per
cent of Nigerians are living below the poverty line. The report also reveals
that Nigeria ranks 125 out of 145 countries on gender inequality index."
The report revealed that with a population of over 200 million, this reality undoubtedly
represents a society with an outrageously lopsided democratic and economic
structure that favours and serves the interests
of only a few.
It pointed out that
Nigeria runs the most expensive governments in the world, with an over
bloated civil service, government advisers and aides, whose salaries are often
very high.
To further compound this, the report noted that the Nigerian
legislature is reported to be one of the highest paid in the world, paid to
preside over the lives of a large majority of Nigerians living in abject
poverty.
The report showed further that the scale of inequality in
Nigeria was such that while 75 per cent of registered businesses, including
those run by the elite do not pay tax, the lower classes cannot escape
arbitrary taxation, sometimes with blatant disregard for their human rights.
The report added that with the misapplication of
resources and priorities, economic
growth in Nigeria has not created meaningful opportunities and employment as
many of the country's youth, including those with university degrees are
currently unemployed.
The report pointed out that extreme inequality hinders
economic growth and stifles social mobility, while it also fuels crime and
violent conflict.
It stressed that inequality is a catalyst for social
tensions within communities, with citizens' frustrations spilling to increase
crime rates and violence in various forms.
The report explained that the multifaceted trajectory of
corruption in Nigeria has been severally attributed to as one of the major
factors that deepen inequality Nigeria.
On the federal
government can end inequality, the report noted, "There is an urgent need
to critically examine the culture of governance and break the policies and
norms that sustain the concentration of wealth and income at the top, to
forestall the self-perpetuating cycle of inequality that subjugates many and
sustain poverty in Nigeria.
"Economic policies and development strategies should be
formulated in a participatory manner and they should have at the core reducing
inequality as a key principle.
"Take urgent actions to bring down the cost of
governance. It is unacceptable that a large percentage of the budget goes to
paying fat remuneration to a small number of public office holders, resources
that could improve the living standards of Nigerians by funding healthcare,
education as well as the provision of water and sanitation to millions of
Nigerians."
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