Anambra poverty rate lowest in Nigeria �NAPEP
Published on 19 November 2010 with 0 comments   
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ACHILLEUS-CHUD UCHEGBU (Abuja Bureau Chief)

National Coordinator of National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Dr. Magnus Kpakol, has rated Anambra state high as the state with the lowest poverty rate among all the states in the country.
Kpakol, who said this in an exclusive interview with Daily Champion in Abuja, noted that the level of private enterprise in Anambra put the state on the top echelon of the ladder of efforts by states to eradicate poverty.
He said though Bayelsa state is thought to have the lowest poverty rate in the country, statistics have shown that Anambra is actually topping the ladder.
�Statistically, we rank Bayelsa state as having the lowest poverty rate in the country. But in its purest sense, Anambra state has the lowest poverty rate in the country and that is because of the level of private enterprise and commitment to private enterprise there,� he said.
On the need for private enterprise to lead the battle to eradicate poverty in the country, Kpakol said the only way poverty can be eradicated in any society is for greater private sector activity that would create more jobs and allow government the freedom to concentrate on infrastructure development.
He said the private sector holds the key to poverty eradication in the country adding that excessive dependence of government will not help the poverty situation.
He said: �We have to understand that the key to fighting poverty in the country is private enterprise. We must promote private enterprise in the country. I think that the government in Nigeria has been too involved in everything. It is too heavy. That should not be.
�Private enterprise is the key to fighting poverty long term. There has been too much centralization. Excessive centralization and excessive government involvement crowd out ingenuity and private enterprise.
�We need to continue to make it possible for people to be engaged in private enterprise. That�s the way to fight poverty. If we do that, we will be able to create jobs and free government to provide infrastructure like roads, electricity and becomes more like a referee. That is basically what government should involve in while private enterprise propels the engine for economic growth and redemption,� he said.
Kpakol, who would want more wealthy Nigerians to get involved in the effort to alleviate poverty by creating job opportunities, however frowned at a situation where government is made to fund the purchase of tricycles (Keke) as a poverty alleviation measure.
He said government should not have any business buying and distributing tricycles to Nigerians.
�I do not think government should be buying tricycles for people. I don�t think it should be that way. I inherited the programme. I think also that it has done well, but again, I believe that time probably has come when it should be completely privatized.�Micro finance banks can buy Keke and sell with support from state governments. I understand state governments subsidize other agricultural inputs. They can also do that with Keke. Honestly, this programme should be owned by the private sector. I do not think the federal government should continue to buy tricycles and distribute to people. I don�t think so,� he noted.
He however differed with those who are critical of the tricycles as a poverty alleviation measure and its costs stating that critics of Keke should also look at the demand side of it and realize how hotly in demand they are among Nigerians.
�Keke has been useful to the people that have benefited from the programme. When some people think we should not have it, they should also look at the demand side. Peoples demand for Keke is high, both for passenger operations and as profit making business. I am aware that there are some Keke that are selling in the private sector for well over N600, 000 and people are buying them. And they are not from NAPEP,� he said.
He frowned at allegation of fund mismanagement at NAPEP noting that the fund has to be available before it could be mismanaged.
He said allegations that funds belonging to NAPEP were misapplied and for which the Senate indicted him, were absolute lies, adding that at no time did the Senate indict him as reported in some dailies.
�Before, they accused me of taking money meant for Keke. you hear someone writing in the newspapers that I gave him a dud cheque and that was why he could not produce the Keke in time. First, I want people to know this. The minister never writes cheques. I do not know the colour of our cheque. I have never seen a NAPEP cheque book. I do not know what it looks like.
�When I came here, we had a permanent secretary and he used to sign cheques. I stopped it. I said it was wrong for someone who checks our accounts to also sign cheques. I stopped it. I don�t sign cheques. And then someone goes to town to accuse me of issuing him a dud cheque. I cannot even tell my accountants to write a dud cheque. There is no way he can write a dud cheque because he is a professional and has his integrity to protect.
�So, I even imagine why people even say certain things. I will not even go to the extent of saying such a thing, accusing a minister of giving me a dud cheque for fear of exposing much stupidity. There are things you say and people will see you as silly. There is no way a government official can issue a dud cheque to its contractors. It beats my imagination how anyone thinks I could issue anybody a dud cheque. I can�t do such a thing.
�The same person also accused me of owning a facility which costs N470 million. In some places he said it costs N450 million. So, I don�t even know which is correct. However, it is simple to prove. Just show a CAC document showing me or listing anyone related to me, who can be pointed at as my proxy, as a director of the company, as a proof that I own the company,� he said.

http://www.champion.com.ng/displaycontent.asp?pid=1773

NAPEP is the authority on poverty matters in Nigeria and they are on the ground, in all the states, rather than some fabricated statistics from elsewhere. Therefore, this makes absolute sense. You cant have Onitsha and Nnewi and still wallow in poverty. I expect also that Abia (courtesy of Aba) should be among the first 5 states with low poverty levels.

This is the ultimate truth and I have always advocated for state governments to continue building good infrastructure and leave the economy to private enterprise. If Peter Obi can muster the courage to create a large industrial area and support it with even a mini-power plant, Anambras economic will leap ahead of other states in no time.

Thats the real truth; afterall, we are not money bags for nothing ,

Good.
About time the ever-vibrating Onitsha bridge got fixed.
It is about to sink into the River Niger for Pete's sake.
Too many missing knots and bolts since it's contruction date by Julius Berger.
I always say my last prayers anytime I am stuck in traffic on that disaster-waiting-to-happen.

Oh God. If these idiots can just fix Onitsha. Get some serious investment in and actually FIX THAT CITY BIG TIME, my goodness. Whatever is happening in Lagos with Fashola's Eko Atlantic and so on will be a child's play.

But the govt in Anambra just HAS to step up to the plate. They need to radically transform the urban infrastructure with the aim of attaining First World Standards. They need to take a trip to Lagos CBD, and see what a city center looks like, and go back there and build one, with a SKYLINE  facing the river, and sort out that port.

People should be SURFING on those waters with YACHTS milling around them.

ROSSIKE:

Oh God. If these idiots can just fix Onitsha. Get some serious investment in and actually FIX THAT CITY BIG TIME, my goodness. Whatever is happening in Lagos with Fashola's Eko Atlantic and so on will be a child's play.

But the govt in Anambra just HAS to step up to the plate. They need to radically transform the urban infrastructure with the aim of attaining First World Standards. They need to take a trip to Lagos CBD, and see what a city center looks like, and go back there and build one, with a SKYLINE  facing the river, and sort out that port.

People should be SURFING on those waters with YACHTS milling around them. 

well said my brother/sister. i wish those govt people/leaders are reading comments and suggestions on NL,

Anyone manage to find a copy of the study online? Would be nice to see how the states compare.

Biafra will be great. I've known this right from time. If you guys can just look inwards.

babaearly:

Biafra will be great. I've known this right from time. If you guys can just look inwards.

You cannot be Biafran and Nigerian. Please choose one so Nigeria's problems will be greatly reduced if God answers our prayers.

This is deceitful.When you compare Anambras income with the population and do thesame for Bayelsa,the truth will come out.Anambras population is under-estimated.Just like Imo.We should therefore not rejoice.We SE have the lowest puverty rate but we are the poorest zone.

Abagworo:

This is deceitful.When you compare Anambras income with the population and do thesame for Bayelsa,the truth will come out.Anambras population is under-estimated.Just like Imo.We should therefore not rejoice.We SE have the lowest puverty rate but we are the poorest zone.

There is a difference between money from the federal govt (in which case everyone knows the SE states receive the lowest) and the presence of private enterprises (as NAPEP mentioned) which has helped to lift Anambra, and am sure Abia, out of poverty. That is the difference.

DapoBear:

Anyone manage to find a copy of the study online? Would be nice to see how the states compare.

There is something here I just found

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-374285.0.html


That may not be the exact data you asked for, but it provides some insight into your question. It is from the UNDP and follows the trend of info from the NAPEP

igbobuigbo:

There is something here I just found

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-374285.0.html


That may not be the exact data you asked for, but it provides some insight into your question. It is from the UNDP and follows the trend of  info from the NAPEP

Found lots more documents here on the UNDP website:

http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NHDR2009/

It is actually a ton of material. Don't really have time to digest it all right now, but there is some relatively accessible data in the following two items:
1) http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NHDR2009/NHDR_SUMMARY_2008-2009.pdf
2) http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NHDR2009/NHDR-%20PowerPoint-Rev.ppt

Here is the main beast though:
3) http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NHDR2009/NHDR_MAIN-REPORT_2008-2009.pdf
Once I read through it and understand it all, I might make a post and add some better plots and graphs.

DapoBear:

Found lots more documents here on the UNDP website:

http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NHDR2009/

It is actually a ton of material. Don't really have time to digest it all right now, but there is some relatively accessible data in the following two items:
1) http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NHDR2009/NHDR_SUMMARY_2008-2009.pdf
2) http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NHDR2009/NHDR-%20PowerPoint-Rev.ppt

Here is the main beast though:
3) http://www.ng.undp.org/documents/NHDR2009/NHDR_MAIN-REPORT_2008-2009.pdf
Once I read through it and understand it all, I might make a post and add some better plots and graphs.

Yeah there are tons of country stuff on UNDP site. Too much to read with little time available

How i wish Ngige is still my govno, posterity will forever judge dat dude positively. Mrs Peter Obi just dey there dey sound broken record.

I've lived in Anambra, Lagos and Kano and I know what I witnessed. Though Anambra government is poor, I think poorer that Enugu, the people of Anambra are not.

Obiagu1:

I've lived in Anambra, Lagos and Kano and I know what I witnessed. Though Anambra government is poor, I think poorer that Enugu, the people of Anambra are not.

That is exactly the point.Igbos generally are the least poor but Nigeria is short changing us while Napep and UNDP keep telling us how puverty is low in our region.

@igbobuigbo: Just about finished reading through the report. Pretty clear to me now that the GDP and probably population figures for Nigerian states are probably all false. Too many discrepancies. Unfortunately while I know statistics decently well and feel that there is enough data here to accurately estimate the true figures, I don't know demography and cannot say how it should be done. Going to see if I can schedule a meeting with a demography professor here and see if he can provide some pointers on how to approach the problem.

Quite an interesting problem though, trying to figure out what here is real and what is fake.

DapoBear:

@igbobuigbo: Just about finished reading through the report. Pretty clear to me now that the GDP and probably population figures for Nigerian states are probably all false. Too many discrepancies. Unfortunately while I know statistics decently well and feel that there is enough data here to accurately estimate the true figures, I don't know demography and cannot say how it should be done. Going to see if I can schedule a meeting with a demography professor here and see if he can provide some pointers on how to approach the problem.

Quite an interesting problem though, trying to figure out what here is real and what is fake.

If you find a state such as Niger as wealthy, then surely it depends on who is recruited by UNDP for the data collection since they use Nigerian experts for these studies. I guess like the population count, someone will rig the data to suit their region. But from anecdotal evidences and studies conducted by others such as NAPEP, Anambra is doing well. Really, that is why they are known as Eze egos (kings of money) in Nigeria. I will go with the NAPEP one rather than the UNDP one.

See another version below


Report rates Jigawa poorest in Nigeria
From Martin Oloja, Abuja
JIGAWA State has been adjudged the poorest in the country. It leads nine other northern states as the poorest in the country.

This was contained in statistics released on Tuesday at a Stakeholders Forum on the Economy where vital figures were released on the Obasanjo Administration Reforms and outcomes covering 1999 to 2004.

The forum, presided over by President Olusegun Obasanjo, had key drivers of the Obasanjo economic reform agenda presenting data on various sectors of the country's economy. One of them was the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo.

One of the revelations is that Lagos State remains the engine room of the country's economy contributing a whopping 48 per cent of deposit, and 69.96 per cent of total loans in Nigerian banks.

Abuja with heavy government presence in monetary transaction comes a distant second with only 16.86 per cent of deposits and 4.6 per cent of total loans.

According to the 2006 census result, the North leads with a total population of 75,025,166 while the South follows not so closely with 64,978,376 in a result that puts Nigeria's population at 140,003,542.

One of the reports on the economy released to the forum held at the State House Banquet Hall revealed that the Northern part of the country is poorer with Jigawa State on top of the league closely followed by Kebbi State. Others in descending order are Kogi, Bauchi, Kwara, Yobe, Zamfara, Gombe, Sokoto and Adamawa.

In contrast, Bayelsa, with the lowest population figure in the entire South, tops the list of "10 states with the lowest incidence of poverty (Richest States)".

In economic terms, Bayelsa State has the highest per capita income rate in the country followed, interestingly by the politically traumatised Anambra State.

Abia State, comes third, others in this category of "Richest States" are: Oyo, Imo, Rivers, Enugu, Ogun, Osun and Edo.

States not listed by researchers are said to be within the range of mediocrity, neither poor, not rich.

According to the report, which did not blame any governor or any governance factors, even individuals in all the geo-political zones were asked to state how poor they felt they were.

But there is a wide disparity between the verdict of the respondent and the actual incidence of poverty with respondents indicating a higher degree of poverty.

On the state of economic activities in the geo-political zones, the North performs poorly.

All the three zones in the North (excluding FCT), according to the report, have less bank deposit than the South zones.

According to the report: "The poverty status in turn is highly correlated with Adult literacy rates; size of average household; orientation to private sector-led wealth creation as opposed to dependence on government or few people; active intervention of States/Local Governments towards empowerment of the people, etc"

On the performance of the economy, the report claims that "poverty incidence is down from 70 per cent in 1999 to 54 per cent in 2004, but the regions differ, "

In a rider to the report, the researchers indicate that poverty is strongly correlated with size of household and level of education".

But the report is unmistakable in the final analysis that the status of poverty in the polity has been largely enhanced by low productivity in the North.

igbobuigbo:

If you find a state such as Niger as wealthy, then surely it depends on who is recruited by UNDP for the data collection since they use Nigerian experts for these studies. I guess like the population count, someone will rig the data to suit their region. But from anecdotal evidences and studies conducted by others such as NAPEP, Anambra is doing well. Really, that is why they are known as Eze egos (kings of money) in Nigeria. I will go with the NAPEP one rather than the UNDP one.

Their (UNDP) methodology for estimating State GDP is flawed, somehow. It seems to dramatically overstate the GDP of the northern states. That is the conclusion I've come to by reading their methodology. Don't get me wrong btw, this isn't meant to attack Anambra, which I'm sure is doing well, as NAPEP claims (though of course I'd love to see their methodology as well.) But it seems a lot of the statistics used (for example, the state GDPs posted on Wikipedia) are wrong.

I don't know for sure if someone is being purposely deceitful or they just don't know what they are doing, but in any case the state GDP data is false.

http://www.triumphnewspapers.com/our21102008.html

Our pact with poverty
By Robert Obioha
obioha@sunnewsonline.com
Those who think that things are working in the country should better think twice with the recent Nigeria’s poverty figures released by both the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Senior Special Assistant to the President and National Coordinator of NAPEP, Dr. Magnus Kpakol, had at a public lecture on “Poverty Solution: The Role of Government in Poverty Eradication,” held in Minna, Niger State, a fortnight ago, disclosed that 70 million Nigerians, about half of the nation’s population, are poor.
That means that one out of every two Nigerians live in poverty. And judging by the global benchmark on poverty index, it shows that about 70 million Nigerians live below poverty line at one US dollar per day. According to the NAPEP boss, 70 million Nigerians now live below N65 a day. The situation might be bleaker if the overall poverty picture can be statistically captured considering our poor statistical culture.
The source of Kpakol’s figure is a recent study by the National Bureau of Statistics. Though this writer does not intend to doubt the figure dished out by Kpakol, it is instructive to point out that the recent poverty figures released by the UNDP show that the poor in Nigeria is 70.8 percent of the population, which is far above the national poverty figure as presented by NAPEP.
All the same, the fact still remains that the number of the poor in Nigeria is rather on the high side irrespective of the huge differences in the two varying statistical figures. Both serve as a veritable reminder that the nation is already having a pact with poverty in spite of all efforts to eradicate it.
It is interesting to note that poverty in Nigeria transcends sex, tribe and religion. It affects all the six geo-political zones in the country, though, in varying proportions and intensity. It has also nullified all the claims of high performance by the various governments in the country. It has revealed, once again, that all is not well with the way we run our affairs as a country.
With this picture of poverty, we can no longer pretend that all is well with the country or delude ourselves into ever thinking that the country is working when more than half of its population go to bed hungry despite the abundant human and material resources available to squarely address the problem.
When did poverty start starring all of us in the face? It is since we collectively abandoned agriculture and pursued the abundant petrol-dollars and inflated contracts. It began when we abandoned production to pursue import trade that has, overtime, made us a dumping ground for any shabby good manufactured in Europe, Asia and America.
A look at the overall trend in poverty rates over the years in the country revealed that in 1980, the figure was 28.1 million. It increased to 46.3 million in 1985 and slides a little to 42.7 million in 1992.It rose very high in 1996 at 65.6 million and 70.0 million in 1999 while the 2004 figure was 54.4 million.
These figures further reinforce the view that the problem is ever increasing rather than being abetted by the avalanche of programmes and interventions aimed at reducing it or out rightly eradicating it from our shores. Given the level of human and material resources at our disposal, Nigerians would, indeed, have no pact with poverty in the first instance.
But the tragedy of our situation is that as more money comes in, the more the poverty level increases disappointingly. Our problem is worsened by corrupt and avaricious leadership that is perpetually and overtly insensitive to the yearnings of the suffering masses of this country that voted them into power to salvage their situation.
Let’s serve you with the statistical breakdown of the poverty rates among the six geo-political zones of the country. The North-East leads the pack with 72.2 percent. North-West closely follows it at 71.2 percent while North-Central came third at 67.0 percent. The South-West came fourth at 43.1 percent, South-South fifth at 31.5 percent and South-East is sixth at 26.7 percent.
The most interesting thing about this regional portrayal of the poverty rates is that the North, which had had the longest hold on power and can boast of a few wealthy individuals, has the greater percentage of the poor than the South. The picture of the North shows that money is not evenly distributed. It is a sharp contrast to the South where wealth is evenly distributed.
The fact that the South-East recorded the least poverty figure is never by magic. It is a reflection of the age-long entrepreneur spirit of the Igbo. It is a portrayal of the fact that the average Igbo does not look up to government or anybody for sustenance. The people do not depend on anybody or government even for projects. That the zone recorded a lower poverty rate is never as a result of government’s institutionalized poverty-alleviation programmes.
The South recorded lower poverty level when compared to the North because of its high level of literacy, which makes it possible for people to acquire skills unlike in the North where many years of misrule and almajiri culture had perpetuated poverty instead of eradicating it.
Poverty in Nigeria is driven by greed and lack of compassion on the part of our visionless and rudderless leaders. It is also driven by the penchant of the privileged few individuals in our midst who shamelessly appropriate our collective patrimony leaving the majority of us highly impoverished.
Many Nigerians are poor not because of laziness or ill luck as some religious zealots would have us believe. People are poor where there is uneven distribution of wealth and factors of production. There is gender angle to it as women are denied access to work by some religious and cultural restrictions. As officially acknowledged, some Nigerians are poor because they lack some tools and capacity as well as the technological advancement to improve their lives.
To bail the poor out of this state-imposed predicament, the government should think of novel ways to tackle the problem of poverty in the land. There is no point recycling old techniques and methodologies, which have proven obsolete and unworkable.
What the government can do right now is to embark on massive job creation. Here, we mean agro-based jobs and not white-collar jobs per se. We say this because Nigerians are hard-working people who will be ever ready to unleash their potentials if the enabling environment is there.
Most of the discontent in the land, even in the Niger Delta area and other trouble spots in the land is poverty-induced and driven. If the 70 million poor Nigerians are uplifted from that unenviable status, it is not in doubt that the country will be better for it.
We have the enormous resources at our disposal to solve this problem now. What remains is for the political leadership to muster enough willpower to address the problem. We have enough arable land for all kinds of agriculture as well as the aquatic cultures for fish farming. We do not lack the hands that can make things happen in the area of agriculture.
We do not lack fanciful proposals on how to solve our everyday problems. The only snag is implementation. A time has come when all the levels of government in Nigeria will treat poverty as an emergency that needs to be tackled with all amount of seriousness it rightly deserved. There is no way the country can achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Vision 2020 and its seven-point agenda when 70 million of its population wallow in abject poverty and deprivation.
What the poor in Nigeria are asking for is empowerment and not necessarily free lunch as obtains in other lands. The time to eradicate poverty in Nigeria is now, as any postponement will worsen the situation.

I'm not an economist but I'd rather deal with lower poverty rate than GDP which gives a false impression based on individual state populations. In some states, e.g., northern states, the money is held by very few individual unlike in many of the SE states where wealth is more spread. In this case using GDP  to measure makes no sense


See another published paper on rural poverty here:

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0002273/Human_Capital_Nigeria_Oct2005.pdf

^--- I'll take a look at that report too.

Yeah, the report on poverty you linked to from that article is basically Table 3.1 on page 78 of the NHDR long survey I linked to. But it is hard to say how meaningful or trustworthy the data is unless we know their methodology (for example, how is poverty being defined here?) And the data seems inconsistent with data from other sources. (e.g., Table 3.4, which details things like access to clean water, waste disposal, etc.)

DapoBear:

^--- I'll take a look at that report too.

Yeah, the report on poverty you linked to from that article is basically Table 3.1 on page 78 of the NHDR long survey I linked to. But it is hard to say how meaningful or trustworthy the data is unless we know their methodology (for example, how is poverty being defined here?) And the data seems inconsistent with data from other sources. (e.g., Table 3.4, which details things like access to clean water, waste disposal, etc.)

Considering that

1. More Nigerians live in rural than Urban areas
2. The authors of the paper are not Igbos, so no ethnic bias here
yet they report that rural Igboland is the least affected by poverty, I think the data in my last link, replicated below, is reasonable.

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0002273/Human_Capital_Nigeria_Oct2005.pdf

^-- I'm not necessarily accusing the source of bias. I just am hesitant to trust certain sorts of data unless I completely understand the methodology used. Maliciousness is not the only source of error, sometimes people just make mistakes. Or measure things incorrectly. Or use model A when model B is more appropriate. Sorta see what I'm saying?

igbobuigbo:

Anambra is doing well. Really, that is why they are known as Eze egos (kings of money) in Nigeria.

Lol. I thought they was known as that cus of the amount of Coke they be pushing, kidnappings they be committing, Robberies they be carrying out, Prostitution, and Human money rituals they involved in. . . . . but what the hell do I know?

bk.babe97y:

Lol. I thought they was known as that cus of the amount of Coke they be pushing, kidnappings they be committing, Robberies they be carrying out, Prostitution, and Human money rituals they involved in. . . . . but what the hell do I know?

I do not see anything you listed there that is not found in other parts of Nigeria or other parts of the world.

igbobuigbo:

I do not see anything you listed there that is not found in other parts of Nigeria or other parts of the world.

. . . . sure the rest of the world eats humans like yall Ibos. . . .

bk.babe97y:

. . . . sure the rest of the world eats humans like yall Ibos. . . .

igbo hater happy new year , i see you have come to do what you do best, turning every topic into tribal bashing.

I miss my old I'd

Confirmed