by Josephine OkojieAugust 19, 2018 | 3:32 am 
  
Despite the economic development recorded in the country, two regions are still lagging behind the other four in terms of development and investments.
Many in these two regions remain unemployed, malnourished and locked in poverty.
The lack of a holistic approach to inclusive growth by various Nigerian governments is becoming a damper on the country’s economic growth and development.
Regional inequality in the country is a huge structural problem for the entire economy which cannot continue to be ignored, according to economists.
Poverty in the country has strong regional concentrations, especially in the north, resulting in significant levels of regional disparity.
Nigeria has six geo political regions which are: South-West, South-South, South-East, North-East, North-West and the North-Central. Of these regions, the North-East and North –West have remained excluded from the growth process of the entire economy.
More worrisome is the fact that the poverty index in the North-East and North-West region is rising and not in any way showing signs of decreasing youth restiveness and the Boko Haram insurgency.
In 2016, the United Nations said that 5.1 million people in the North-Eastern region urgently need food and livelihood assistance resulting from long term social and economic exclusion, along with violent conflict in the region.
The UN also stated that seven out of 10 people in the region were living below the extreme poverty line, as security crisis rocking the region has forced farmers to abandon their farmlands.
The region has the lowest rate of child enrolment, highest number of unemployed young people, highest poverty levels and faces the challenge of inter-religious conflicts including the Boko Haram crisis.
Boko Haram’s over seven-year insurgency in the region has crippled economic activities and worsens the region inequality rate, with hundreds of people killed and over 2million people displaced.
The failure of the government to engage the youth population in productive activities in these regions is a waste of the country’s most essential human capital as well as a disservice to the economic development of Nigeria.
It is apparently due to their non-engagement in productive ventures that the present generation of Nigerian youths take to political thuggery.
Most of the states in the north east region’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are poor, compared to other states in the country. The region depends on the Federal Government for revenue and has failed to explore natural resources.
Historically, government investments into those regions have been driven by agricultural interest. Despite the North-West and North Central being landlocked, there have been huge federal investments over the years in these regions to drive agriculture growth.
This has been primarily as a result of the large landmass, favourable conditions for agriculture and the necessity of preventing droughts in these regions.
But analysts say much more investments is still needed in the region and called on the government to take up an inclusive growth approach by adopting a regional thinking approach in directing national investments.
A functioning, fast and efficient rail system between the rich and poor regions would make the less developed regions accessible and this would increase interconnectivity among all regions in Nigeria, thereby pushing commerce and creating economic growth.

Josephine Okojie

Source: https://www.businessdayonline.com/news/article/nigeria-must-address-regional-inequality/

Front page: Lalasticlala

A poor northerner will marry 4 wives and have 23 children while working as shoe repairer and polisher? How else can someone self destruct their future and that of their future generations?

The same north west that has ruled Nigeria for over 20 years and we have more than 5 country leaders from there alone? Maybe their poverty be follow come, factory fitted.

Nonsense

They are doing themselves

see for your self ;


Murtala Mohammed


Sani Abacha

Muhammadu Bwari

IBB

Yakubu Gowon

Umaru Musa yara adua

and so on...... many top politicians have emerged from there but still it's still the most undeveloped in Nigeria, this people (Northerner) need to stop being religious and politically sentimental to forward progress

Northern Nigeria is cursed beyond redemption . It's problems lie in religion and Illiteracy.

Rubbish article!! The writer of this beautiful nonsense failed to blame those responsible for the misery of the north which is their elite and politicians rather he is here asking the federal government to do more for those that have enjoyed the bulk of federal government intervention and investments over the ages. Does this ignorant and myopic writer even know the number of government agencies and investments in states like Kaduna, Kano, Borno, Sokoto, Bauchi etc in the same region now can he possibly compare them with the South East that has virtually non?? If federal government intervention is the reason then the SE would have been the world's poorest region and not the North.
Useless and rubbish article.

So we are supposed to use the little we have to continue subsidizing people who are bent on self destructing themselves?? How is that supposed to be our problem? We are talking about everyone being responsible and taking care of themselves yet this unfortunate man is here championing more government intervention to people that have been over pampered already. Is he saying that these people can't survive on their own if they are to be on their own? What is the population of Niger, Chad, Cameroon, CAR etc, are they not surviving?? This ignorant writer and their ilks are the ones indulging these northerners and feeding their over bloated sense of entitlement.
If any region in Nigeria needs government intervention/investments it is the SE because there is absolutely no form of federal government presence in the region and that's unfair.

Economic diversification and human capital development is answer. Being overly reliant on subsistence agriculture can't and wont work. Exploiting untapped mineral resources and building rail infrastructure is only one piece of puzzle. They should take Bill Gates advice by investing more in the people.

Top down policies from federal government wont solve issue. The states in NW and NE have to do their part. There's plenty of opportuinity in food processing, manufacturing and mining.

i see people 40 to 45 years cutting nails and i ask myself what were they doing all their lives, is nail cutting a skill? religion is the chains that is tying the north

vanbonattel:
The same north west that has ruled Nigeria for over 20 years and we have more than 5 country leaders from there alone? Maybe their poverty be follow come, factory fitted.

So, why are they still struggling to rule again? Tell them that they only need to select an intelligent southerner that can help them change their fortune, choosing bubu as usual will continue to worsen their fate as the man knows very little.

Their elite probably know the bolded is true, but reckon an intelligent southerner would ruin their hustle and take away some of the criminally acquired advantages they've given themselves and their region since the early 70s!

You know, if Nigeria were to split today and Biafra or Republic of Igboland elect an intelligent and visionary leader like a Soludo, Okonjo-Iweala, Muoghalu or Chidoka.....you think the Arewa Republic will be watching us and then with clear eye choose to re-elect a visionless geriatric with nothing to offer but 'phight kwarruption'? They can afford to be stupid now and drag the rest of the country down to their level because they know 'one Nigeria' affords them the luxury of the resources (human and material) and ingenuity of the south to insulate them from their fuc'kup!

The number one problem of Nigeria is the elite of the core muslim north and the millions of their zombified and easily led minions! All other problems and issues we face pale in comparison!

Nigeria would have been a much better and saner country if the Orkar coup had succeeded!

The North East is sbout to have North East redevelopment commission lets see how the do. I doubt they can do much better than NDDC which isnt saying much.

2 million people are engaged in illegal mining in nigeria, what percentage do you guys think are from NW and NE. If they unlocked those areas with modern equipment and funding there could be real industry and export potential. The other issue is illegal miners harm environment and do not pay taxes. Anything that goes wrong will be everyones collective problem while they reap private benefits.

how?when the addressers and addressees has sold their souls for money.

Bump