Barely 24 hours after the report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which stated 133 million people living in the country – 63 percent of the country’s population are multidimensionally poor, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Friday launched the National Poverty Dashboard Situation Room (PDSR).
The situation room inaugurated by Clem Agba, minister of state for budget and national planning, said the hub would be used as a tool for a proper understanding of the poverty situation in Nigeria.
According to the minister, the hub became necessary to house different features where policy discussions can be hosted.
“The purpose of the lab is to have people use it and have an understanding of how to deal with issues that we have. We believe there must be transparency and accountability; we must involve the people in whatever we are doing so the trust gap will be narrowed.”
He noted that the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Report revealed that poverty was prevalent in the rural areas at 72 percent, compared to the urban areas at 42 percent, stating that he has been speaking about the need to pay attention to our rural areas. The money put into poverty reduction does not seem to be showing that it is working.
”This is because, at the subnational level, governors pay attention to the state capitals as we can see from the results of the MPI report. I see a linkage between the population growth rate and a lack of infrastructure in rural areas.
”What is happening is that our poor farmers who produce 90 percent of the food we eat reside in the rural areas, and are not making a profit from farming.
“If every state is making their contribution, you will find out that the prices of food items will reduce, it will be better for our people and we will be removing the issues of poverty” he added.
The statistician-general of the federation, Prince Semiu Adeniran, said the hub will diagnose and dissect whatever the problem is as it concerns poverty.
The NBS officials added features of the lab, including a dedicated poverty dashboard and website, which would be interactive, and in-house experts who would provide explanations on the poverty indicators.
MAP NEWS reported on Thursday that the NBS via a press release revealed 63% of persons living in Nigeria (133 million people) are multidimensionally poor.
The report according to the NBS was a true reflection of the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey.
According to the report, Over half of the population of Nigeria is multi-dimensionally poor, with multidimensional poverty higher in rural areas, where 72 percent of people are poor, compared to 42 percent of people in urban areas.
In general, the incidence of monetary poverty is lower than the incidence of multidimensional poverty across most states.
In Nigeria, 40.1 percent of people were poor, based on the 2018/19 national monetary poverty line, and 63 percent are multidimensionally poor according to the National MPI 2022.
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