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TITLE PAGE
MID-POINT ASSESSMENT OF MILLENNIUM
DEVELOPMENT GOAL ONE (ERADICATE
EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER) 2000-2009
(A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU STATE)
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APPROVAL PAGE
This project work has been approved for the award of Master of
Science Degree (M.Sc) in Public Administration/ in the Department of
Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria,
Nsukka.
By
………….………. Date……………….
Prof. (Mrs) R.C. Onah Supervisor ……………………. Date…………………
Prof Fab. Onah Head of Department ……………………… Date……………….
External Examiner
…………………………………
Dean of the Faculty of the Social
Sciences
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CERTIFICATION
Ijeoma Uchenna Camenus Fabulous, a postgraduate student in the
Department of Public Administration and Local Government, University
of Nigeria, Nsukka with registration number PG/M.Sc/09/51587 has
satisfactorily completed the requirement for course and research work for
the award of Master of Science (M.Sc) in Public Administration with
emphasis in Human Resource Management.
The work embodied in this research project is original and has not
been submitted in part or full, for any other higher degree in this or any
other University.
………….………. Date……………….
Prof. R.C. Onah (Mrs) Supervisor ……………………. Date…………………
Prof Fab. Onah Head of Department ……………………… Date……………….
External Examiner
…………………………………
Dean of the Faculty of the Social
Sciences
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DEDICATION
THIS RESEARCH IS DEDICATED TO ALMIGHTY GOD, THE
FOUNTAIN OF KNOWLEDGE.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The long history of research involved in the successful production
of this work has attracted an uncommon helps and sacrifices of
individuals and organizations whose assistances, encouragement and
contribution in one way or the other ought to be highly acknowledged,
believing that, “on the path of success, there are always committers and
passers by.
Top on these lists is the God Almighty, who by his blessings and
grace guided me in the course of this study.
My profound and heart – felt gratitude goes to my parents, Elder
and Mrs. S.A Ijeoma for their unalloyed support and unwavering
commitment in all dimensions, equally, I, want to extend my thanks to
my siblings – Ogonnaya, Chioma, Nnagizie, Amarachi and
Chinaemerem, as well as my cousins among others, Okwy and Chinyere.
I, lack appropriate words to express my deep appreciation for the
unconditional and uncommon attention, pieces of advice, academic
guidance and mother’s care offered to me by my classical and erudite
lecturer/project supervisor – Prof. (Mrs.) R..C. Onah. Also, I, appreciate
the sacrifice of Dr. Amujiri and Hon. Ijeoma, in spite of their tight official
and social schedules during the course of this research, they ensured for
the proper editing of the study.
I, acknowledge with deep appreciation, the ideas of many scholars and authors whose work I consulted. I am particularly grateful to Helen Lebechi My typist. I, continue to salute my friends and academic colleagues, among
others Peter, Jonas, Nony, Chambers and Amaka for their supports.
Finally, I, thank the women and less privileged organizations of the
selected eleven Local Governments in Enugu State used in the course of
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this study. The Staff of MDG, NAPEP and UNDP Enugu State Chapter
for giving me appropriate audience whenever I call to them.
ABSTRACT
The study is being carried to assess the mid-point (2000-2009)
achievement of goal one (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger) of
Millennium Development Goal in Enugu state of Nigeria.
The research is guided by three Hypotheses which are drawn from
the problem statements and objectives of the study. Related literatures are
reviewed in the study, the data are sourced from both the primary and
secondary sources available. The interview is the only source for primary
data collection, the interview was drawn from the research objectives.
The secondary data came from the literatures of scholars and
different agencies, such as gazettes and project files etc. content analysis
method was adopted as the method of data analysis in the study.
The findings indicated that the poverty rate of Enugu State before
2000 and after words have been on the increase, in spite of the current
Millennium Development Goals whose goal one is to eradicate poverty
and hunger before 2015. This study equally goes further to discovering
major obstacles militating against effective poverty reduction such as:
Corruption, bad leadership, leadership inertia, improper and
inadequate planning, non-involvement of the main beneficiaries (poor
massage).
Finally some recommendation and conclusions are made to ratify
the problems identified.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page …………………………………………….…………………i
Approval Page .………………………………………….………………ii
Certification …………………………………………….………………iii
Dedication ………………………………………………………………iv
Acknowledgment ……………………………………….………………v
Abstract …………………………………………………………………vi
Table of Content …………………………………..……………………vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study - - - - 1-7
1.2 Statement of the problem - - - - 8-10
1.3 Objectives of the study - - - - 11
1.4 Significance of the study - - - - 11-12
1.5 Scope and limitations of the study - - 13-14
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND STUDY AREA
2.1 Literature Review - - - - 15
2.1.1 The concept of Poverty - - - - 18-21
2.1.2 Categories of Poverty - - - - 21-22
2.1.3 Causes of Poverty - - - - - 22-27
2.1.4 How did we get into Poverty? - - - 27-30
2.1.5 Indicators of Poverty in Nigeria - - - 30-33
2.1.6 Effects of Poverty - - - - - 33-36
2.1.7 Major obstacles to Reducing Poverty in Nigeria - - 37-38
2.1.8 Food Crisis/Concept of Hunger - - - 38-48
2.1.9 Review of the State’s MDGs 2000-2009 - 48-53
2.2 Hypotheses - - - - - - 53-54
2.3 Operationalization of Key Concepts - - 54-55
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2.4 Theoretical Framework - - - - 55-58
2.5 Study Area - - - - - - 58
2.6 Historical Information of Nigeria - - 59-76
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Sources/Method of Data Collection - - 77-78
3.2 Method of data Analysis - - - - 78-79
3.3 Population of Study - - - - 79-80
3.4 Sample of Study - - - - - 81
3.5 Sampling Technique - - - - 82
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Data Presentation and Analysis - - - 83-85
4.2 Research Findings - - - - - 86-87
4.3 Discussion of Findings - - - - 87
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND
CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary - - - - - - 93
5.2 Recommendations - - - - - 93-98
5.3 Conclusion - - - - - - 98
Bibliography - - - - - 99-107
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
In times past, development as a concept was used in purely
economic terms. Economic growth was often considered from the
perspective of the Gross National Product (GNP) and Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) of a country. This was used as a benchmark for measuring
development. But as times went on the inadequacies of this definition and
perception became glaring, because economic growth could no longer be
seen as an infallible index of human and national prosperity. This false
approach resulted in a situation whereby the wealth created and produced
by the nationals of the developed countries, within the confines of an
indigent country was erroneously credited to the citizenry of the indigent
country, even when absolute majority of the people continue to live and
wallow in abject poverty and squalor. But paradoxically, today some of
these countries are referred to as developing.
It is worthy to note that within the ambit of scholarship on
developmental studies. There are, three major schools of thought,
� The old / dominant paradigm,
� The modernization paradigm and
� The post modernist / alternative paradigm.
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The old / dominant paradigm represents development panacea from the
western countries especially in the decades of the 1950/60s which was
seen as a current approach to the developmental yearnings and aspirations
of the developing countries of the world. Implicit in this paradigm were
some socio- economic - cum political theories and politics which
apparently may have worked in the west and were now being transferred
to the less developed countries (LDCs) as a panacea to the latter
multifarious development challenges.
Now, the modernization paradigm believes that there should be
whole sale or massive transfer of technology from the developed
countries to the LDC’s so as to make them (LDCs) develop the western
way. However, these western scholars failed to take into cognizance the
different cultural milieu of the LDCs.
It is on this premise that the problem of development has occupied
the attention of scholars, activist, politicians, development workers and
international organization for many years with an increased tempo in the
last decade. Even though there are different perspectives to development,
there is a general consensus that development will lead to good change
manifested in increased capacity of people to have control over material
assets, intellectual resources and ideology and obtain physical necessities
of life, (food, clothing and shelter) employment equality, participation in
government, political and economic independence, adequate education,
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gender equality, sustainable development and peace. This is why some
people have argued that the purpose of development is to improve
people’s lives by expanding their choices, freedom and dignity.
However, the reality of the world is that many countries are
underdeveloped with precarious development indices. More than 12
billion people or about 50 percent of world population live and survive on
less than US $1 per day (UN Report 2007). Wealth is concentrated in the
hands of a few people. The UNDP in its 1998 report documented that the
richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) of the 48 developed countries.
Nigeria which was one of the richest 50 countries in the early
1970s has retrogressed to become one of the 25 poorest countries at the
threshold of the twenty first century. It is ironic that Nigeria is the sixth
largest exporter of oil and at the same time host the third largest number
of poor people after China and India. Statistics show that the incidence of
poverty using the US $1 per day increased in 1996. The incidence from
28.1 percent in 1980 to 46.3 percent in 1985 and declined in 1980 to 42.7
percent in 1992 but increased again to 65.6 percent in 1996. The
incidence increased to 69.2 percent in 1999. The 2004 report by the
National Planning Commission indicates that poverty has decreased to
54.4 percent. Nigeria fares very poorly in a development index. The
average annual percent growth of GDP in Nigeria from 1990-2000 was
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2.4. This is very poor when compared to Ghana (4.3) and Egypt (4.6).
Poverty in Nigeria is in the midst of plenty. Nigeria is among the 20
countries in the world with the widest gap between the rich and the poor.
General index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or
in some cases consumption expenditure) among individuals or household
within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A
General index of zero represents perfect equality while an index of 100
implies perfect inequality. Nigeria has one of the highest general indexes
in the world. The General index for Nigeria is 50.6. This compares poorly
with other countries such as India (37.8), Jamaica (32.9) Mauritania
(37.3) and Rwanda (28.9).
Across the globe, poverty had been a cankerworm against even
growth and development of the rural areas, notably in developing nations
including Nigeria. Poverty entails more than the lack of income and
productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestation
include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other
basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of
participation in decision making.
In an effort to fight these menaces over the decades, government
had embarked on several reform programmes aimed at bettering the lives
of the common man and building a virile nation. One of such initiative is
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which has the United
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Nations Commitment and endorsement. The Nigerian version of the
Millennium Development Goals is a derivative of the United Nations
Millennium Declaration adopted at the Millennium Summit of September
6th – 8th 2000 in New York. 189 member countries of United Nations
gathered in September 2000 to take a momentous step in the global war
against poverty, which led to the birth of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
The central reason for the MDGs is to reduce extreme poverty in
several of its ramifications. At least, the MDGs grew out from the basic
need strategy adopted by the world employment conference of 1976 and
confirmed by the General Assembly of United Nations.
According to Francis Blanchard, International Labour Officer,
former Director-General, opined that “basic needs are the minimum
standard of living which a society should set for the poorest groups of its
people”. The satisfaction of basic needs means meeting the Minimum
requirements of a family for personal consumption: food, shelter, and
clothing. It implies access to essential services, such as safe drinking
water, sanitation, transportation, health and education, it implies that each
person available for and willing to work should have an adequately
remunerated job.
Thus, the first MDGs addresses the twin problem of extreme
poverty and hunger with the target to reduce by half the proportion of
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people living on less than $1 a day and to reduce by half the proportion of
people who suffer from hunger. According to Todao and Smith (2009)
having poverty has come to serve as a touch stone for the MDGs as a
whole. The goals were to be met not later than 2015.
However, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the president
on MDGs, Hajiya Amina Az-zubair at a briefing on Progress of MDGs in
Abuja, to achieve the MDGs by 2015 would require a whopping $170.30
billion which is N25.557 trillion within a period of six years starting by
2010. Az-zubair said that on an annual basis the projected loss of
achieving the MDGs will increase from $19.3bn in 2010 to $38bn in
2015 while averaging $284bn annually. In Nigeria’s current economic
condition, Az-zubaire’s figures tend to suggest that the UN looked
forward and planned for 15 years to achieve the MDGs in member
nations. The world body knew it was an expensive undertaking that
would stretch the limited resources of member nations over a decade and
a half. The argument that the MDGs now form the basis of government
policies like NEEDS and the Universal Basic Education Programme
make a lot of sense. But considering that some of the MDGs are really
routine government responsibilities, it is difficult to appreciate
achievement levels. Not with the current level of poverty and
dysfunctional socio-economic infrastructure. From all indications the
MDGs are very important and crucial goals to be achieved in any polity
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especially in Enugu State. Even if there were no MDGs, these are social
services and objectives to be set and achieved by any government
especially in a democracy such as ours. The MDGs were meant to
supplement responsive government efforts in looking after the well being
and economic welfare of their people and align them with international
community for global growth and development.
The State House of Assembly recently complained that the vote for
the MDGs project was not being utilized. The above assertion by the
State House of Assembly informs the barn of the State Public Officers –
corruption. That is money voted for projects and programmes develop
wings overnight and unaccounted for. It is our belief that the MDGs do
not exist on their own or in a vacuum. More so as we think they are
compatible with the 4 – point agenda of the present administration and its
budgets. To cast the MDGs out of our expectation and hope is
unacceptable.
Constitutionally, implementation of MDGs activities is the duty of
all tiers of government, so significant progress cannot be made unless
states and local governments are committed to implementing the related
activities. But there should be effective monitoring at all levels to ensure
that state benefit from this laudable initiative of the UN. No doubt, the
success of the initiative is a direct function of commitment to the
concerns of the poor and good governance.
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1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The salient pre-occupation of contemporary society is to raise the
standard of living of her citizens. As a result of this, every successive
government in the state both the military and the civilians have embarked
on many welfare programmes to raise the standard of living of all state
indigenes in a sustainable way. As a result of this the Federal
Government from the independence hatched a National Development
Plan, with the objective to diversify the nation’s economy from
agricultural and mining into manufacturing, tourism and services. Nigeria
was luckier still with the advent of oil boom, its prospect for greatness
brightened. “The revenue from oil which is estimated beyond $300
billion could have transformed Nigeria into an industrial economy, if it
was properly and judiciously applied”, Awowede (2000:26). The need to
diversify the economic base resulted in the establishment of the
“refineries at Warri, Kaduna and Port-Harcourt, the steel companies at
Aladja and Ajaoluta, the Motor Assembly Plants in Lagos, Bauchi,
Enugu, and Kaduna among others” (Odigbo 2001:25).
The truth is that the discovery of oil in Nigeria which brought easy
money, made successive regimes disregards other sectors of the economy
in the state. Close to fifty one years since independence, the state’s
population has tripled. Sadly, the economic situations have not grown to
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accommodate the growing need. As it is now, 90% of our economy is
dependent on oil.
All companies that were established to expand the employment
base are dead due to neglect occasioned by over dependence on oil
revenues. The government is forced to increase the price of Petroleum
Products with a view that it will help or offer any assistance. The
economy, therefore, is at its base line, per capita is still low, and the
consequences of a failed economy are as clear as the Daily Sun,
unprecedented unemployment ratio, total breakdown of infrastructure,
absence of basic human needs such as food, shelter, clothing, good road,
health care, education, portable clean water, and so on.
However, Taiwo (1997) posit that: Several developing countries including
Nigeria have launched Poverty Alleviation Programmes (PAPs) to the implementation of structural Adjustment Programme (SAPs). If the poor are to be assisted they have to be protected or even insulated from the shocks associated and exclusive support programmes.
Subsequently, the various programmes of different governments
actually have sought to reduce the level of poverty in the state. As a
result, many worthy attempts have been made by different regimes before
and after the military era. Onah (1998:20) observed that:
There are number of agencies and programmes with mandates relevant to Poverty Alleviation. Some of these
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programmes have been disbanded and others changed nomenclature.
The problem of effective and efficient poverty alleviation
programmes in the state has been a perennial one. Though different
administrations, military and civilian alike have shown some concern in
ameliorating the situation, but the achievement of the set objectives
remain a mirage.
Therefore, this study explores the possible causes of such
problems; as such the following questions will guide the study:
1. What was the state and level of poverty before 2000 in the state?
2. What are the successes achieved by Millennium Development
Goal/ 4-point agenda of the current state government towards
eradicating Extreme Poverty and hunger in the state?
3. What are the hindrances that have militated against effective and
efficient achievement of goal of the elimination of poverty and
hunger in the state?
4. Are there other anticipated challenges as to eradicating poverty
and hunger in the state?
5. What measures could be adopted as an antidote to poverty and
hunger in the state?
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1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of the study is to assess the achievement of
Goal one (eradicating extreme poverty and hunger) of Millennium
Development Goals in Enugu State of Nigeria.
The specific objectives of the study are to:
1. Ascertain the state and level of poverty in the state before 2000.
2. Find out the successes made in the implementation of Millennium
Development Goals/4-Point agenda of the current Enugu state
government in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger in Nigeria
between 2000 and 2009.
3. Identify the major obstacles towards eradication of extreme poverty
and hunger in Enugu state.
4. Find out the other anticipated challenges in eradicating poverty and
hunger in the state.
5. Proffer solutions on the way forward.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings and recommendations to be made in this study will be
of both theoretical and practical importance. Theoretically, the study
underscores the importance of government formulation of welfare
programmes and the implementation of Poverty Alleviation Programmes
for an average indigene of the state. The present administration is
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expected to run the economy in such a way as to ensure a good standard
of living for the generality of the state’s populace. This study will reveal
the relationship existing in selected socio-economic indicators in the
state.
Furthermore this study will help those who formulate the welfare
programmes under the present Administration to understand the
consequences of their programmes and also help them to formulate better
Poverty Alleviation Programmes that can stand the test of time. Again,
this study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the
academic field of Public Administration, as well as other related social
sciences. It will therefore be beneficial to researchers, to students and the
academia at large.
Finally, the result of this study will be beneficial to government
officials. Management Consultants, human rights organization, donor
agencies, Federal office of statistics, Federal and State Ministries,
financial institutions and the general public at large. It provides a
benchmark that is utilizable as a tool for a more appropriate Poverty
Alleviation Programmes that will meet the expectation of the state and
Nigerian populace.
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1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study is centered on the eradication of extreme poverty and
hunger with particular reference to the Government of Enugu State. The
choice of the period is between 2000 – 2009. The entire scope of the
study will be examined under the Millennium Development Goals
program in Enugu State of Nigeria.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The uncooperative attitude of the bureaucrats in releasing
information, paucity of data – availability and preparation. Subsequently
to this, the programme which is still on going is really a hindrance
undermining this study.
Finally, the nature/method by which Nigeria applies the
programme promulgated many problems in the process of the research
because Nigeria government always engaged in multiplication and
duplication of programme.
In Enugu States, the present Administration is more or les not
acquainting her self to the programmes of the MDGs, rather it is
emphasizing on her 4-point agenda, making the nexus of MDGS and her
government to exist in dichotomy, consequently research on MDGs
programme becomes very horrible on how to access its achievement and
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sourcing of information. We were unable to gather data from the MDGs
office direct because they have no independent office, they were running
their programmes through United Nation and NAPEP secretariat in the
state, this made most of data needed very difficult for us to have access
to them.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW
Introductory Discuss
There are variations in living standard around the globe, as
economic growth rates and productivity vary from nation to nation. Some
countries are poor, some are fairly well off, and others rich, just as some
individuals are poor, some are fairly well off, and others are considered
rich. However, everything is relative; and that is certainly the case with
poverty. For instance, although millions of Americans cannot make a
decent living’ (Schwarz, 1998), ‘‘what most people in the United States
today regard as stark poverty would seem like luxury in parts of Asia and
Africa…” (Mansfield 1977). Similarly, a poor person in Nigeria might
not be perceived as such by other Africans in dire economic needs. Thus,
poverty is partly a matter of how one person’s income stacks up against
the other person.
If you were to determine how a person is doing economically, you
would first look at the person’s income. One with a high income could
afford life’s necessities and luxuries; but “inadequate income is a strong
predisposing condition for an impoverished life” (Sen;1999).When
judging whether the economy of a nation is doing well or poorly, it is
common to compare the total income of everyone in the economy with
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one or the global economy. The most common economic tool for this is
the Gross National Product (GNP) = the total income earned by a nation’s
permanent residents at a given period, (Mankiw 2001: 498). The Average
income of a citizen of any country is the GNP per capita, calculate by
dividing the GNP with the population. Nevertheless, GNP differs from
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = the market value of all final goods and
services produced within a country in a given period of time, Ibid. p.
496), by including income that a nation’s citizens earn abroad and
excluding income that foreigners earn in the country. For instance, if a
Ghanaian citizen works temporarily in Nigeria, his production is part of
Nigeria’s GDP, but it is not part of the GNP (it is part of Ghana’s GNP).
Given the indices currently used by international organizations,
Nigeria’s Current GNP per capita of about $260 is below that of less
affluent countries such as Bangladesh with a per capita income of $370.
Nigeria’s low per capita income[below $1 USD) compares with those of
smaller African countries with less endowment in natural resources, such
as Tanzania with a per capita income of $260 and Mozambique of about
$220. African countries that enjoy impressive standard of living are South
Africa with a per capita income of $3,240 (Commonwealth yearbook,
2002; The Guardian Online, March 17, 2002). Nigeria’s poor per capita
income becomes more frightening when compared with those of some
western nations. For instance, the GNP per capita United States was
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about $27,086 in 1996 (USAID 2002); and recently that of Britain was at
$23,590 (The commonwealth yearbook, 2002). This is not to mention the
impressive economic performances of the four Asian Tigers of Singapore,
south Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Thus, a nation’s standard of living is determined, among other
things, by the economic conditions of the nation and the productivity of
her citizens (the quantity of the goods and services that a worker can
produce for each hour of work (Mankiw 2001: 533). A country may
prosper if her citizens are productive and do not possess many anti-
growth behaviours such as corruption and bad work ethnic. The mention
of work ethnic takes us to the issue of “culture”, which is a significant
determinant of a nation’s ability to prosper, shapes individual’s thoughts
about risk, rewards and opportunity (Lindsay 2002: 282).
The Concept of Prosperity
There are different views of what prosperity is and how to create it.
Prosperity could be both a “flow” of income and a “stock” of capital. It is
a flow of income, when is the ability of a person to purchase a set of
goods, or capture value created by someone else; it is a stock of capital,
when is the enabling environment that improves productivity (Sen; 1996).
Prosperity, therefore, is the ability of an individual, group, or nation to
provide shelter, nutrition and other material goods that enable people live
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a good life (Ray 1998:9). Prosperity helps to create space in people’s
hearts and minds so that they may develop and heal the emotional and
spiritual life and become unfettered by the everyday concern of the
material goods they require to survive (Fairbanks 2000). Therefore the
life of any person burdened with the vices of poverty is miserable and
short as he or she struggles daily for survival. This is, unfortunately, the
case with many people in present day Nigeria.
Therefore, it is the submission of this work for the Nigerian
leadership to provide the enabling environment that would attract and
retain local and foreign investors and spur economic growth, which
ceteris paribus, would lead to more jobs, increase in goods and services,
improvement in the health of citizens and the poverty-profile of Nigeria.
2.1.1 The Concept of Poverty
In spite of Nigeria’s oil wealth (the nation is the 6th oil producing
nation in the world), the poor constitute about 7% of the Nigerian
population. And recent report by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) shows Nigeria as the 26th poorest nation in the world
(The Guardian July 26, 2002; Dike 2002). With the vast mineral, oil,
water, land and human resources, many Nigerians live on less than $1.00
(one US dollar) a day. Is this statistics not bad enough to wake the
nation’s political leaders from slumber? Who are the poor in Nigeria?
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Poverty has narrow and broad definitions, partly because it is a
physical matter, and partly because poverty is relative. It is physical,
because one can notice its effects on those afflicted by it. And it is
relative because a poor person in one country may not be perceived as
such in another country. However, the poor are those that have limited
and insufficient food, poor clothing, live in crowded and dirty shelter,
(Galbraith 1955:6), cannot afford medical care and recreation, cannot
meet family and community obligations and other necessities of life. And
people are “poverty-stricken when their income, even if adequate for
survival, falls markedly behind” the average obtainable in their
immediate community (Galbraith 1955).
Poverty is a serious issue in Nigeria, because many people are
struggling daily for survival without assistance from the state. Worse still,
the nation does not have any guideline to measure the construct, which
are available in some countries. For instance, in the US the 1995 official
federal policy notion of poverty guidelines carry precise dollar amount of
about $15,150 for a family of four poverty guidelines, which are issued
by the Department of Health and Human services, determine financial
eligibility for federal programs and household incomes for basic
necessities. And any family whose income is below the set amount is
considered living below the poverty line. Schwarz, 1998. The threshold,
which is the statistical version of the poverty guidelines, is used by the
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‘Census Bureau to calculate the number of persons in poverty in the
United States or Regions (Schwarz 1998; UNDP 2002). A poor person
could not afford the life style a rich individual would regard as the
minimum for decency and acceptable in a particular community.
However, no precise definition is really needed in Nigeria for us to
understand what poverty is, as poverty is indelible on those afflicted by it.
The poor are those who cannot afford decent food, medical care,
recreation, decent shelter and clothes, meet family and community
obligations, and other necessities of life. With this, it is not surprising that
poverty is regarded as a form of oppression (UNDP Conference report,
2001).
Poverty is the condition or quality of being poor, need, indigence,
and lack of means of substance. It is also deficiency in necessary
properties or desirable qualities, or in a specific quality, etc. The journal
of poverty notes that poverty means more than being impoverished and
more than lacking financial means. It is an overall condition of
inadequacy, lacking and scarcity, destitution and deficiency of economic,
political, and social resources. This is a broader perspective of poverty,
which reflects its true dimensions. Therefore, people are living in poverty
,if their income and resources (material, cultural, and social) are so
inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living which is
regarded as acceptable by their society generally (Ireland: NAPS. 1997).
29
Because of the effect her underdevelopment and corruption, the poor are
found both in rural and urban settings in Nigeria, with different categories
of poverty.
2.1.2 Categories of Poverty
As mentioned earlier, the life of those afflicted by poverty is
comparatively miserably and brief. Galbraith (1958) has classified
modern poverty into two categories, namely: Case Poverty and insular
poverty.
Case Poverty is the kind of poverty seen in every community rural and
urban. It manifests in poor family “Junk-filled yard and dirty children
playing in the bare dirt” (Galbraith 1958). Other qualities peculiar to the
individuals or family afflicted by case poverty are; mental deficiency, bad
health, inability to adapt to the discipline of modern economic life,
excessive procreation, alcohol, insufficient education, or perhaps a
combination of several of these handicaps. These conditions hinder these
individuals from participating in general well-being.
Insular Poverty manifests itself as an island. In this imaginary island,
everyone is poor. Galbraith; (1959) has noted that it is not easy to explain
insular poverty by individual inadequacy, because the environment in
which the people found themselves may have made them poor or may
have frustrated them.
30
Given the above explanations, it is appropriate to note that poverty
assumes social, political and economic dimensions. The social
dimensions of poverty includes the lack of educational opportunity and
the lack of access to health care, while the political dimensions of poverty
exists where civil rights are denied and political power rests in the hands
of a few people. Although economic dimensions of poverty are broader
than lack of finance, it includes lack of employment opportunities and
uneven distribution of resources (journal of poverty, 2001) however,
some people are poor due to factors beyond their control.
2.1.3 Causes of Poverty
The classical Greek philosophers, especially Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle believed that anything human beings could experience or think
about was worth investigation. Aristotle, in particular, noted that all
human beings, by nature, desire to know what affects them. Therefore,
poverty and squalor are among the social ills that affect human beings,
which they should investigate and study.
Alfred Marshal (1842 – 1924), a renowned British economists
known for neo-classical theories – in his turn of the 20th century that
poverty is the study of the degradation of a large part of mankind. He
noted that many people had insufficient food, clothing, and house room.
31
On that, they were and are still over-worked and under taught, weary and
careworn and without quiet and without leisure (Marshal 1927).
We are aware that this study was conducted at the early 20th
century, yet with the advancement in modern technology at the end of the
20th century (and the beginning of the 21st century), many people are still
poor all over the globe. Although here are traces of poverty in every
nation, the situation in Nigeria in general and Enugu state in particular, is
dismal, because the poor are struggling without assistance from the state.
With the vast mineral, oil, water, land and human resources in Africa,
about 240 million live on less than $1.00 (one US dollar) a day. Many
people are without access to safe water lack the ability to read or write.
Consequently, Africa is often referred to as “paradox of poverty in the
midst of plenty” (Ndulo 1999). Why is the region very poor?
The causes of poverty are myriad and complex and they vary
according to their settings. In most cases, the poverty of the Africans is
caused by those elected to protect them. This is the case with Nigeria
where the political leaders with access to the national treasury covert the
public funds to their private use.
Reports sources, 2001 shows that HIV/AIDS contributes to the
worsening poverty situation at household level in many countries in
Africa. For instance, November 2001 Government of Nigeria Sentinel
Survey reported that Nigeria had 5.8% HIV prevalence rate. And the
32
United Nations ranked Nigeria as the fourth-worst affected country in
1999 based on the number of HIV infections. With life expectancy of 55
years, illiteracy rate of 50% and under-five mortality of 143 per 1,000
live birth, HIV/AIDS affects over 2.7 million people in Nigeria (USAID,
2002). And with poor economic performance, corruption, the paltry,
expenditure of $0.03 per capita funding for HIV/AIDS as of 1996, and
the citizen’s inability to pay for treatment once infected, the number of
HIV/AIDS in Nigeria is expected to increase in future (UNAIDS 1999).
For that a public awareness campaign should be intensified to educate the
masses on ways to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
One cannot over-emphasize the effects of bad social policy and
cultural values and attitudes as obstacles to or facilitators of progress of
nations. Thus, cultural values, which are fundamental obstacles to
progress, help to explain the intractability of the problems of poverty and
injustice in parts of the Third World (Harrison 2000; Etounga 2000). For
instance, the culture of polygamy (having more than one wife at a time)
in Nigeria, Africa and some other Third Word nations is one of the major
factors for poverty, corruption, illiteracy and even diseases in this part of
the World (Taiwo and Kehinde Onalaja 1997). Very often, laws designed
to protect the civil and human rights of the people witness zero
implementation.
33
Therefore, culture matters (Harrison and Hintington, 2000). Factors
associated with mismanagement of national resources (depletion of
resources by corrupt political office-holders, 419 scam and rising crime
rate, would discourage investment in the economy, thereby exacerbating
the poverty profile of Nigeria. (Daily Champion, 2002). At a European
Commission (EC) meeting to support Nigeria’s anti-poverty program,
(Nicholas, 2001) stated that government can win this battle against
corruption and mismanagement, the money will start to turn into
functions schools, health services and water supply thus laying the
foundation to eradicate poverty.
Globalization and the World Trade Organization (WTO)
liberalization policy have been noted as modern day colonialism causing
the poverty of the Third World Countries. Some writers have suggested
that Nigeria should boycott the WTO agreement, because the treaty leads
to goods being dumped in the country, leading to closures of local
industries. And some have argued that the quality of Nigerian goods (if
Nigeria has anything other than petroleum) would not compete
effectively in the global market. (Vanguard, July 5, 2002; Guardian, April
2,2002). Thus, the nation’s oil and import-dependent economy leads to
rising unemployment and the poverty of the people.
Discrimination, race and poverty are closely related, they affect
people’s ability to secure employment and earn a living. Entrenched tribal
34
prejudices and nepotism sometimes determines a person’s chance to
secure employment in Nigeria. The de facto state of the origin,
prerequisite for securing employment in the state and local government
areas in Nigeria is a case in point. Often, those who relocate to states
other than their state of origin are being treated as non-indigenes.
Consequently, those in places of authority hire their own people. This
practice is not, however, peculiar to Nigeria. In the United States, race is
a factor in employment. Non whites are often prevented from reaching
certain occupational or managerial levels irrespective of their
qualification (Mansfield 1977). There are laws against such practices in
the United States, any person can relocate to any state of his or her
choice, secure employment, and participate in the affairs of the
community.
Inept leadership, bad social policies and reliant on traditional
methods of productions are impediment to prosperity. Other causes of
poverty include government institutions that are corrupt, unproductive
university-private sector relationships and failure to take risk and make
tough choices. Many nations that are not creating wealth at a high rate are
over-reliant on natural resources, including cheap labour of climate,
location, and government favour (Sachs and Warner, 1995). One would
not fail to mention the unhealthy state of Nigeria’s educational
institutions and hospitals, lack of economic opportunities for the citizens,
35
and lack of skills in computers and information technology for mass
production are among the causes of the nation’s low productivity and the
poverty of the society. However, any individual from a poverty-ridden
society is, undoubtedly, familiar with the effects of poverty on the poor
and society in general.
2.1.4 How Did We Get Into The Poverty?
According to (Oluba, 2008) poverty became palpable in Nigeria
with the collapse of oil prices in the early eighties and reached a
crescendo after the period of the structural Adjustment Programme.
Various policies and institutional structures which have been put in place
at different times to arrest the trend failed because of pervasive corruption
which attended to those policies programmes and projects. In the state,
this obnoxious act of total reliance on federal allocation made the state to
pay lackadaisical attitudes towards agriculture and coal mining which
were the major source of income to the state before the era of oil boom in
the country. Public officer are the principal culprit for Nigeria’s poverty
thrives flamboyantly as is our case in the absence of effective rule of law
and property rights system. When allowed to survive at, it gains ground
and consequently under score as well as undermines the effectiveness of
various economic corruption amplifies the negative consequences of
inappropriate economic policies. Thus, whereas it is possible for wrong
36
macro-economic policies to have some minimal positive outcomes in the
absence of corruption, with corruption the full effects of bad economic
policies are felt unless there is a temporary insulator or cushion which
prevents the full effects from taking place in the case of Nigeria, such
insulator is the crude oil.
The civil war and the unexpected oil boom which quickly followed
it created immense opportunities for corruption and self enrichment that
eventually took over the Nigeria economy and polity. First, the oil boom
occurred during the military era where the discretion of the ruler and his
team rather than constitutional rules applies. Having set aside the
constitution, how the oil money is spent was dependent on the wisdom
and discretion of the military leader, with such stupendous amount of
unexpected wealth, the then head of state declared that Nigeria had no
problem, with getting wealthier than it was at the time, but was on the
contrary concerned with the spending of its wealth.(Ghani 1999)
So, government went on a spending spree to achieve this challenge.
First they bloated the civil service structure which provided the
appropriate platform for bureaucratic corruption. Then the government
instituted the culture of bogus whitewash projects in the name of post war
reconstruction. And since the money was not finishing quickly, there was
the Udoji salary award which increased salary across board by almost
50%, in addition to the world to come and feast in the name of the
37
Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC). On and on went the culture of
profligacy and waste which was really the beginning of a society and
government where corruption was to settle down conveniently.
Contracts for most of the projects were won on the ground of rent,
kickbacks, and patronage of the bureaucrats and as a result, the cost of
manning of such projects were either unduly bloated or poorly supervised
as the monitors and supervisors have already been compromised. By the
time the Civilian Government took over in 1979, the environments of
corruption have been adequately prepared for even more wastage.
Although fiscal deficits had been the deliberate choice of government for
financing its projects and Programs since 1965, since 1976 however,
deficits were largely a cover to accommodate the monies that would
corruptly be spent.
Whereas projects and programames that constitute the budgets
were already deliberately inflated, the deficits provided some measure to
be shared by corrupt bureaucrats. The fiscal deficits or the 1965 up to that
of 1973 can be justified on the grounds that before the civil war Nigeria
needed to develop own local capacity to manufacture, secondly, Nigeria
needed to finance the civil war, thirdly, Nigeria needed to carry out post-
war reconstruction.
But beyond this period and in desperation to create opportunities
for national cake-sharing, governments budgeted for deficits and
38
embarked on white wash elephant projects. This was common place
during the civilian era of 1979. Most of these projects were subsequently
abandoned as they could not be completed owing to the fact that in the
first instance, there was no genuine need for them and there was equally
no strategic plan concerning them.
2.1.5 Indicators of Poverty in Enugu State
The presence of poverty is highly felt by all indigenes of the state
directly or indirectly. At present, no additional instrument either
electronically or otherwise is needed to identify the presence of poverty
and its negative impact in the state, due to its large, conspicuous and
destructive impact. Although to foreigners and some people, the level of
poverty may sound paradoxical, due to the mixed reality of life in
Nigeria. Nigeria is noted as one of the top six states in the world with the
highest petroleum exporting capacity, and ordinarily should be regarded
as a rich country with less poverty rate. Unfortunately, despite the huge
petroleum product income, Nigeria is rated by the African Development
Bank and International communities as a very poor country. By their
assessment, poverty level in Nigeria is on the increase (Akinyode,
2004:1).
The following are indicators of poverty in the state.
i. Hunger and Food Crisis in the State.
39
Food production in the state is unstable, particularly on her basic
foods such as cassava, yam, rice, maize, beans etc. due to poor storage
facility, losses in post harvest food losses, poor processing, inadequate
market system, poor incentive to farmers, poor budgetary allocation and
implementation to the agricultural sector and environmental poverty, this
results in hunger (United Nations, 2001). Coupled with the ever-
increasing population, the state in collaboration with Nigerian
government resorted to importation of her basic foods, which in 1999
amounted to 14.38% of her total imports. This results in automatic
increase in food prices to a level that is difficult for the majority of the
citizens to afford (Onah, 2006: 82).
United Nations Report (1999) states that the figure from federal
office of statistics in Nigeria shows that 40% of her populations are faced
with food insecurity and hunger. This number has long increased, as the
problem of hunger, is today noticed in the state by both domestic and
foreign bodies. Many indigenes of the state were unable to afford three
square meals per day. Even the meals they afford are below the required
diet by international standard. The impact of hunger is boldly written on
the faces of indigenes of the state. The empty stomach and the growing
crimes of the emaciated children are evidence of hunger in the state. The
increasing number of destitute and other beggars invading the state Motor
Parks is further evidence of hunger in Nigeria (Onah, 2006: 82).
40
ii. Lack of Access To Safe Water
According to (Onah, 2006:83), Nigerians are suffering from lack of
safe water for consumption. Both the rural and urban towns witness
shortage of potable water. In the rural areas, people either keep late in the
night or wake very early in the morning in order to beat some water-
seekers to have access to the few fairly portable water. Either the
available water is polluted as the case of Niger Delta region by the
activities of Oil Company, who have as well refused to provide
alternative water sources or there is none at all. In the Northern area, the
situation is more severe. The story in urban areas is not different. People
walk kilometers in search of safe water. Some come to the office with
jerry cans, with the hope of fetching safe water back home. The absence
of portable water is accountable for the regular epidemic – guinea worm,
typhoid fever, skin rashes etc. in Enugu state.
Indeed, the UNDP Report (1998) state that it is only in three states
of the 36 states of the federation where portable drinking water can be in
relative sufficient supply. The shortage in supply of safe water in the state
is an aspect of poverty.
iii. Unemployment and Underemployment
Unemployment in economic perspective is the number of people in
a given population who are willing and able to work for survival, but are
41
not able to find the work. Underemployment is the state of being
employed but the remuneration for the employment does not relate to the
job. No organization or government organ is needed to explain
unemployment and underemployment rate before one knows that the rate
is high in Nigeria despite regular jingles, advertisement and window
display on the trend of poverty eradication and job creation in the state.
According to Akinyode (2004:2) “… the band of jobless graduates
and psychologically assaulted undergraduates, and the rising bellows of
under paid workers who have been forced to hawk their bodies for a
living are clear indices of poverty. This has resulted to poor income and
low standard of living among majority of state. Achor (2001:35) confirm
that the poor (unemployed and underemployed) lack sufficient fund to
cover their minimum standard of living. And that is why many Nigerians
lack the income for survival.
2.1.6 Effects of Poverty
Perhaps, due to its (poverty) complexity and its corrosive effects on
humanity, many journal, articles and books have tackled the issues of
poverty (Schiller, 2000; Sen 1999; Harrison and Huntington, 2000).
Poverty destroys aspirations, hope, and happiness. In Enugu State, as in
other poverty stricken states, this is the poverty one can feel. Poverty
affects tolerance of others. Support of civil liberties openness towards
42
foreigners affects positive relationships with subordinates, self-esteem
and sense of personal competence. It also affects one disposition to
participate in community affairs, interpersonal trust and self-satisfaction
(Inglehart 1997; Fairbanks, 2000 p. 271).
It has been noted that deprivation of elementary capabilities can be
reflected on premature mortality, significant undernourishment
(especially on children), persistent morbidity and illiteracy, literacy are
correlated with the productivity and prosperity of a nation (fair banks
2000, p. 271). High level poverty could lead to brain drain – the
emigration of many of the most highly educated workers to rich
countries, where these workers can enjoy a higher standard of living
(Mankiw 2001). The poverty of a state can also lead to human trafficking,
prostitution and the spread of HIV/AIDS, child labor abuse of human and
civil rights (Guardian Online, June 24, 2002). In addition, poverty leads
to corruption, disruption of family relations and social life, causes rising
crime rate, among other vices.
Sen, (1999: 87), argues persuasively that an individual’s advantage
(or otherwise) in society should not be judged solely on his or her
income. Poverty must also be measured in terms of substantive freedoms
he or she enjoys to lead the kind of life he or she has reason to value.
Therefore, poverty is a deprivation of basic capabilities (such as
undernourishment and illiteracy), rather than merely lowness of income,
43
which is the standard criterion of identification of poverty. He adds that
the capability of poverty perspective does not involve any denial of the
fact that low income is clearly one of the major causes of poverty. Since
lack of income can be a principal reason for a person’s capability
deprivation. He notes that poverty as capability inadequacy and lowness
of income are related, because, income is such an important means as
capabilities, since enhanced capabilities would tend to expand a person’s
ability to be more productive and earn a high income.
Poverty is degrading to human beings, and the life of the person
afflicted by it is comparatively miserable and brief. Thus, grave threat to
the future stability of state lie in the masses beset by absolute poverty.
Consequently, poverty, destitution, indigence and scarcity are words that
show images of economic disadvantage and lack of financial resources.
Political instability and national insecurity are other negative
effects of poverty. According to (Onah, 2006:97) Poverty as a state of
deprivation makes the deprived to be vulnerable and violent in nature.
(Eguavoen 2003: 223) is of the opinion that the major cause of the
Urhobo-Itsekiri crisis and in some other Niger Delta communities is as
the poor are always agitating for better standard of living, provision of
basic needs and resource control as an opportunity to alleviate their
condition.
Poverty increases illiteracy and poor performance of political
leaders. Poverty deprives the poor, who are majority of the electorates
44
from having basic education. Since they are not educated, it becomes
difficult to impact such democratic values as freedom of choice of
candidate, freedom of speech, value and respect for the right of people,
peaceful co-existence etc on them. Illiteracy deprives the electorate the
opportunity to participate effectively in democratic activities. Even the
elected representative default in their responsibility, as a result of their
ignorance – poverty of the mind arising from illiteracy. Most of the
elected representatives, who are by circumstances, victims of poverty find
it difficult to effectively formulate and implement good public policies
for the masses they represent. (Onah, 2006:98 -99).
Another negative effect of poverty is its social impact on the poor
masses. The exposure of the poor to difficulties makes them vulnerable to
criminal behaviour or act. The unemployed and underemployed always
indulge in criminal activities, sometimes to enable them afford their basic
needs. (Onah 2006:99) has it that of recent, a good number of Nigerian
young girls were repatriated from Europe on account of prostitution
outside the shores of Nigeria. Several studies have shown that the
involvement of young girls in prostitution is as a result of poverty. The
implication of Nigerian girls being in such dimension of prostitution not
only impacts negatively on Nigeria’s health record, but also gives bad
signal to foreign communities on the state of poverty and health in
Nigeria.
45
2.1.7 Major Obstacles To Reducing Poverty In Enugu State
Corruption, poor governance and misuse of oil wealth remain
major obstacles to reducing poverty in the state. (International
Development Committee, 2009). The UK Department for International
Development (DFID) is allocating £120 million to Nigeria for 2009 – 10,
up from £20 million in 2001 – 02. The committee supports this level of
funding on the basis of the regional significance of Nigeria to West
Africa, its close ties with the UK, and the scale of poverty in the country,
but it believes it would not be sensible to increase aid while corruption
and poor governance remain significant barriers to poverty alleviation.
Tell, 22nd May, 2010.
The state is one of the most populous states in Nigeria. More than
half of its population lives in poverty despite the state being a major
food/Agricultural resources producer. One in five children dies before the
age of five, the state is not on the track to meet any of the Millennium
Development Goals. State ministry of health report (2010). If the state is
not making faster progress towards the MDGs, these targets stand little
chance of being met globally by 2015.
According to Malcolm Bruce MP, Chairman of the committee, the
scale of the need in Nigeria is clear. We were concerned to learn that
some of the states in Northern Nigeria have the worst Human
46
Development indicators of any region in the world which and is not
affected by conflict.
The maternal mortality rates are particularly shocking. The state
has 2 percent of the Nation’s population but suffers 10 percent of the
Nation’s maternal deaths. (MDGs report, September 2009) New
strategies have to be found to ensure that maternal health services are
available and that cultural obstacles which prevent women gaining access
to them are overcome.
2.1.8 Food Crisis
In Nigeria, given the preponderance of poverty amongst rural
agricultural workers who constitute a significant proportion of our
population, agricultural and rural development is a key route to
accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction. The Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) in its state of food security in the World,
(2006) indicated that Nigeria had about 12 million undernourished citizen
(about 9% of the population), As at 2003; lack of food is the most critical
dimension of poverty, which is critical to meeting the MDGs. Agriculture
predominantly small-scale farming, with low and declining productivity,
accounts for 41% of the real sector, while crude oil accounts for 13%.
Agricultural production remains largely of a subsistence nature and is
rain-dependent.
47
Food security is currently constrained for many households in
Nigeria. Localized production deficits in the main 2007 harvest occurred
as a result of localized poor rainfall and an early end to the rainy season
in mid-September. The problem of food security is compounded by the
nature of land tenure systems, which makes it difficult for the majority of
farmers to have access to large acreage of land, amenable to
mechanization. In the face of current climate change concerns, the
country’s food situation may get worse in many parts of the world, where
climate change-induced drought is aggravating food shortages (FAO.:
2009). Moreover, the abandonment of the most sources of food like rice
in Uzo-Uwani, cassava in okutu, Isi-Uzo an Opi Nsukka by the various
successive governments made the state to experience hunger more than
her counterparts in other states.
Hunger in the State
In 500 B.C. an anonymous Chinese poet said:
If you are thinking a year ahead, sow seed. If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking hundred years ahead, educate the people. By sowing seed once, you will harvest once. By planting a tree, you will harvest tenfold. By educating the people, you will harvest one hundred fold (Onah, 2006).
The U.S. Presidential Commission on World Hunger Stated: whether one
speaks of Human Rights or basic human needs, the right to food is the
48
most basic of all. Unless that right is first fulfilled, the protection of other
human right becomes a mockery” (MDGs Report 2007).
What Is Hunger?
Hunger is not appetite; it is a profound, debilitating devastating,
intensively painful to human experience. It keeps us from working
productively, from thinking clearly, from resisting disease. Ultimately if
it goes on long enough, it kills us (UNICEF).
Different Types of Hunger
The Hunger that we read, see and hear about in places like
Bangladesh and Ethiopia is the Famine variety of Hunger. Famine has
received greater attention from the new media than the other types of
Hunger, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. But in countries like Nigeria,
chronic under-nutrition, malnutrition, mal-absorptive Hunger and
seasonal under-nutrition account for over 90% of all hunger related
deaths. (The Hunger Project – THP).
How Do We Measure Hunger?
According to the Hunger Project – THP, we need to measure
hunger in societies or countries so that we can see where hunger persists
and where it is ending. The most accepted strategy for determining the
49
extent of hunger, throughout an entire country is the Infant Mortality Rate
(IMR). The IMR is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age
per 1,000 live births in a given year.
Poverty Alleviation Programmes In Enugu State.
There is no one definition of poverty Alleviation. Olaitan, (2000:9)
the removal or minimizing of the factors which contribute to poverty is
poverty Alleviation. Thus, the major purpose of Poverty Alleviation in
any country or state in the world is that of providing and would enable
them provide the basic and essential means of achieving socio-economic
independence.
At this point, it would be ideal to evaluate some Poverty
Alleviation Programmes in the state. Really, colonial masters dealt a big
blow to the economy of Nigeria. They gave political power to Nigerians
who toed their line after independence. The instituted colonial poverty
has bed wheeled the country long after independence. Successive
governments have tried in one way or the other to address the problem of
poverty in the state as follows:
In 1972 under the military leadership of General Yakubu Gowon, a
Policy Programme known as National Accelerated Food Production
Programme (NAFPP) and Nigerian Agricultural and Co-Operative Bank
(NACB). These Poverty Alleviation Programmes of Gown Government
50
viewed Nigerian poverty from Agricultural perspective. The Nigeria
Agricultural and Co-operative Bank were provided with the capacity of
providing loans purposes. Onah, (2006). Unfortunately, the Gowon
Poverty Alleviation Programmes according to Maduagu, (2002:2) turned
to be a colossal waste and nothing was achieved. In the same vein, Onah,
(2006:87) the funds were made available to the elite and not the poor. The
elite, who had access to the funds, diverted the funds to other sections
rather than agriculture, at the end, the main objectives of the Poverty
Alleviation Programmes was not achieved. Poverty was not alleviated,
the increase in number and the agricultural sector faced a severe set back.
As a result of the inability of NAFPP and NACB to achieve their
objective of alleviation poverty, General Olusegun Obasnjo’s
administration embarked on another programme called Operation Feed
the Nation (OFN) on 21st May, 1976. According to Agedah (1993:47) the
main aim of (OFN) was to make the country self sufficient in basic food
needs … and import on Nigerian a new sense of purpose and bring home
to every one the need for self-resources. In a bid to achieve poverty
reduction in Nigeria through food security, OFN embarked on the
following activities:
i. Provision and distribution of fertilizer, improved seedlings,
pesticides and the necessary support services to the farmers for
51
food security. To that effect, over 50,000 tons of fertilizers were
distributed to farmers across the country.
ii. Mass mobilization: The OFN embarked on mass mobilization
through radio, jingle, music, television advert etc to create
awareness. Various communities were also approached to donate
their unoccupied farmlands to agencies that can embark on massive
farming
iii. Regulation and stabilization of basic food prices such as garri,
maize, rice, guinea corn, yam, beans, etc with a view to protecting
both the farmers and the customers.
Despite all, OFN could not achieve her set objective as the programme
could not in any way reduce poverty in Nigeria. According to Onah,
(2006:89) The Government Officials in charge of fertilizer allocation
diverted the fertilizer to selfish purposes, thereby depriving the farmers
(poor) of fertilizer. As if the diversion of fertilizer was not enough, even
the donated parcel of lands by some communities were through the
instrument of power, collected autocratically from the communities and
diverted as individual properties. The Army Generals and top bureaucrats
used OFN as a better market where they acquired both lands and fertilizer
at ease at the detriment of the masses.
Again, in 1980, a policy called Green Revolution was established
under the civilian government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It was launched
52
to ensure an increase in the production of cereals, cassava, rubber, palm
oil, cocoa and other livestock crops. Poverty was viewed in terms of
insufficient food and distribution in Nigeria by the Shagari
Administration. Hunger was seen as the only consequence of poverty and
as such, could be tackled by the regime, the Green Revolution
Programme could not achieve its objectives. Foods were even imported
more than ever, the local farmers were discouraged and food insecurity
was on the increase. In view of Onah, (2006:90) The Green Revolution
Programme only achieved in making the top military officers. Serving
and retired, politicians and bureaucrats wealthier than ever. They had
access to the Green Revolution Programme facilities and acquired vast
lands for themselves through the programme with the use of state powers.
The lands acquired by individuals were not even used for farming rather
as assets and collateral to enable them collect bank loan for other
investments. Indeed, the Green Revolution Programme could not reduce
poverty, rather induced poverty by enhancing income inequality and
poverty in Nigeria.
The General Ibrahim Babangida administration established the
highest number of Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Nigeria. Indeed
between 1986 and 1992, the administration initiated and implemented
several PAPs. Prominent among these programmes were: Rural
Development Programme piloted by the Directorate for food, Roads and
53
Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI); women-empowerment programme under
the Better Life for Rural Women Scheme; Employment Creation
Programme under the National Directorate for Employment (NDE) and
the Micro-Credit Programme, through the People’s Banks and
Community Banks Projects.
The rural development project of the practorian SAP era was built
around the Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI)
which was launched by the military President, Ibrahim B. Babangida, on
7th February, 1986. The mandate of the DFRRI was to cooperate with all
agencies of the federal, states and local governments with the organized
private sector, the informal economic sector, and all Nigerians, rural and
urban, in transforming the lives and productive condition in (Nigeria’s)
rural are (Babangida, 1991:142).
Much money was thrown into this project. DFRRI got a budgetary
capital allocation of N400 million and N500 million in 1987 and 1988
respectively…(Ake 1996:52 – 53). The initiator of DFRRI, on evaluating
the programme, after a three-year period of implementation, claimed that
the Directorate achieved much for which the nation can be justly proud.
Consequently, the rural areas had been made more accessible and more
attractive places to live and work in (Babangida, 1991:142).
Independent observers and social scientists who studied the
Poverty Alleviation Programmes of the period paint an entirely different
54
picture. Ake (1996: 53) for instance observed that DFRRI did not meet
the expectation of functioning on the basic of social participation, with
the government providing the funds or seed for projects executed in
cooperation with local communities. Rather it became a dispenser of huge
lucrative contracts. It appeared to have served patronage and corruption
more than agricultural development by participative strategies.
Even though NACOB made her lending at far below market
interest rates. Babangid’s regime still found it necessary to establish a
Poverty Alleviation System of banking. The People’s Bank of Nigeria
(PBN) was created on 3rd October 1989 to cater for the financial needs of
less privileged members of society. The envisaged beneficiaries of the
micro-credit to be disbursed by the PBN were peasant farmers and
members of the informal sector people who could not meet the
requirements for loan from commercial and industrial banks. The target
groups included road-side mechanics, self-employed technicians and
artisans, such as plumber, vulcanisers, and electricians, petty traders,
small-scale and peasant farmers, truck pushers, livestock, and poultry
keeper, tailors, barbers, hair-dressers, washer-men and women and leather
workers (Ologunju and Oyoubaire, 1991:147). According to Onah,
(2006:91) Beneficiaries are given one-year for repayment, and on
complete repayment, such beneficiary is qualified for another loan. Also,
the bank had branches in various states of the Federation. Mr. Tai Solarin
55
was the chairman and other nine members. The bank started effectively,
but about 18 months later, the Bank had problems. The management of
the bank was more of politicians than bankers. At the board level, except
the National coordinator, Mrs. Mar Sokenu, others were appointed on
political patronage and not on competence” (Onah, 2006: 92).
Furthermore, the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo
initiated another poverty Program in 1999. The first programme was
National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP). This program was a
flop in most state like Enugu State because the state government of
Enugu State used the resources mapped for the program as a package of
appreciation and party allocation, it was gathered that the government
gave the opportunities to high politicians of P.D.P. to collect the offer, in
a situation where party chairman and Secretaries were collecting N7,500
every month as poverty alleviation package, civil servant and political
appointees were the one’s collecting this offer instead of the less
privileged and handicapped individuals.
Notwithstanding, the Federal Government converted the NAPEP to
NAPAP changing the “Eradication” to “Alleviation” when it was
criticized that poverty cannot be eradicated but alleviated. Yet the same
melodramas continued.
Then in 2007 the government of Late Umar Yar Adua adopted 7
point Agenda which poverty cases were not avoided. In Enugu state, the
56
Governor, Bar. Sulivan Chime Iheanacho anchored his own on 4-point
Agenda. The issue of Poverty was not avoided, in fact, Poverty
programme was the pillar ark of the 4-point agenda, because in proper
analysis, the 4-point agenda were centering on human development which
can only thrive by maximization of people’s economy and good living,
yet, the poverty in the state has not rolled out its hydra headed and
obnoxious hands out of the state citizenry. The NAPAP, the
NEEDS/SEEDS, Vision 20,2020, 7-point and 4-point agenda of the
government has not really shown any achievement despite the huge
amount of fund that are been mapped out for these different programmes
questing to alleviate poverty, in the process of all these, poverty still
strives in the state and continued to add in percentage every day.
This ugly scenario is an indication of bad government,
manifestation of poverty, exploration of corruption and carelessness.
2.1.9 Review Of the Enugu State MDGs 2000 – 2009
A review of the Nigeria Millennium Development Goal 2005
report will reveal a number of problems. We shall focus on only three of
them. First, there is the challenge of accurate, reliable, and credible
statistics. The draft of the first Nigeria MDG progress report prepared by
NISER stated that at the primary school level by 2002, the gender ratio
was 1:04 in favour of girls. This was seriously criticized by CSOs as not
57
reflecting reality. When the final report came out, it stated that at the
primary school level, the gender ratio increased from 0.76 in 1990 to 0.78
in 1995 and 0.96 in 2000 the statistics had changed. In the past two and a
half decade, statistics in Nigeria have always indicated increasing levels
of poverty over the past two and a half decades from 28.1% in 1980 to
65.6 in 1996 (MDG Report, 2004). In the early 2000s there were many
estimates that poverty rate was above 70%. But President Obasanjo has
always insisted without any study that the poverty level was much lower.
Expectedly, when the NPC conducted a survey in 2004, the poverty level
was put at 54.4%. Before this report was released the 2004 MDG report
stated that it is unlikely that the country will be able to meet most of the
goals by 2015 especially the goals related to eradicating extreme poverty
and hunger. After the release of the report, the 2005 MDG report stated
that given the current policy environment and strong political will, there
is also the likelihood of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger”.
The second problem with the report is that it is development
assistance focused. The 2005 MDG report highlights the status of the
MDGs, the challenges, opportunities and priorities for development
assistance. This is not surprising for development strategy planning in
Nigeria have been essentially external focused. According to the Nigerian
draft interim poverty reduction strategy paper prepared in November,
2001 (the precursor of NEEDS),
58
Nigeria has embarked on preparing its own PRSP as a requirement for concessional assistance from its development partners abroad, including the World Bank, the IMF, the bilateral donors and other sources of such assistance. Given the importance of the subject and the tight timetable, the Nigerian authorities fully recognize the need to move forward expeditiously to the timely completion of the countries PRSP of which this interim PRSP is the preliminary step.
The final drawback of the report that we will like to point out is
that the report did not indicate the policies and practices that need to be
changed to attain the goals. Meanwhile, scholars and agencies have
documented what needs to be done to tackle poverty and achieve the
MDGs. In this review, we shall outline the recommendations of three
agencies: the World Bank, UNDP and Action Aid International. The
World Bank in its 2001 report titled Attacking poverty points out that
physical capital was not enough, and that at least as important were health
and education and proposed a strategy for attacking poverty in three
ways.
1. Promoting Opportunity
• Encouraging effective private investment
• Expanding into international markets
• Building the assets of poor people
59
• Addressing asset inequalities across gender, ethnic, racial and
social divides.
• Getting infrastructure and knowledge to poor area-rural and
urban.
2. Facilitating Empowerment
• Laying the political and legal basis for inclusive development.
• Creating public administration that foster growth and equity.
• Promoting gender equity.
• Check social barriers.
3. Enhancing Security
• Formulating a modular approach to helping poor to manage risk.
• Designing national systems of social risk management that are
also pro growth.
• Addressing civil conflict
• Tackling the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
The UNDP in its Human Development report of 2003 titled
Millennium Development Goals: A Compact among Nations to end
Human Poverty pointed out that to achieve the MDGs require policy
responses to structural constraints on several fronts along with stepped up
60
external support. The report recommended six policy clusters to help
countries break out of their poverty traps.
1. Invest early and ambitiously in basic education and health while
fostering gender equity. These are preconditions to sustained
economic growth. Growth in turn can generate employment and
raise income – feeding back into further gains in education and
health gains.
2. Increase the productivity of small farmers in unfavourable
environments that is, the majority of the world’s hungry people. A
reliable estimate is that 70 percent of the world’s poorest live in rural
areas and depend on agriculture.
3. Improve basic infrastructure – such as ports, roads, power and
communications – to reduce the costs of doing business and
overcome geographic barriers.
4. Develop an industrial development policy that nurtures
entrepreneurial activity and helps diversify the economy away from
dependence on primary commodity exports – with an active role for
small scale and medium size enterprises.
5. Promote democratic governance and human rights to remove
discrimination, secure social justice and promote well being of all
people.
61
6. Ensuring environmental sustainability and sound urban management
so that development improvements are long term.
Action Aid International in its report titled “Changing Course”:
Alternative approaches to Achieve Millennium Development Goals and
Fight HIV/AIDS show that there is a yawning gap between MDGs needs
and spending realities in poor countries and that macroeconomic policies
enforced by the IMF block poor countries from being able to spend more
on education, health and economic development, the report argued that
for the MDGs to be achieved, the world must start to change course now
and adopt to local, national and international levels alternative economic
policies that allow for much higher long-term public investments in
health, education and development.
2.2 Hypotheses
Hypothesis is generally understood to be an assumed answer to a
research question. In the words of Anikpo (1986:48), “It is a tentative
answer to problem, a guide and prelude to the final solution”.
Chukwuemeka (2002: 63) defines it as a conjectural or statement of the
relationship between two or more variables.
In view of the above, the following hypotheses would act as our
guide:
62
� Millennium Development Goals/4-point agenda has recorded
significant success in the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger
in the state.
� Corruption and bad leadership are obstacles in the eradication of
extreme poverty and hunger in Enugu state.
2.3 Operationalization Of Key Concepts
Some concepts in this work deserve to be fully operationalized so
as to avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding.
Poverty – This is the inability of one to have the basic necessities of life.
That is basically not having enough food to eat, a high rate of infant
mortality, low life expectancy, low educational opportunities, poor water,
unemployment, inadequate health care and unfit housing (Aluku, 1975).
Programme: It is a plan thing that will be done or included in the
development of some thing.
Alleviation: In simple terms, it means to make something less severe.
MDG: This means – Millennium Development Goals. It is the United
Nation Programme geared towards the development of the Third World
countries by 2015.
Hunger: Lack of food, especially for a long period of time that can cause
illness or death.
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4-Point Agenda: Policy and programme frame work of Enugu state
government by her Governor; Bar. Sulivan Chime.
2.4 Theoretical framework
The theoretical foundation of this work will rest on elite theory.
Parry (1977) defined elite as the small clique who appears to play an
exceptionally influential part in socio-political affairs.
In political science, the theory is basically a “class” analysis
approach to the understanding of political phenomena. The term has
history that dates back to the writings of Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosea,
king Roberts Michels and observations made by them with regard to the
elite as distinguished from the non-elite groups within a social order and
the divisions within the elite as between a governing and a non-governing
elite.
Furthermore, Gaetano (1939) noted that the distinguishing
characteristic of the elite is the “aptitude to command and to exercise
political control”. The conceptual schemes postulated by elite theorists
comprise the following generalization.
In every society, there is, and must always be a faction which rules
over the rest of society. This notion is quiet compatible with Robert
Michel’s observation in his “political analysis. Mosea Pareto also says
64
that in all human societies, be it capitalist or socialist, simple or complex,
there is ruling elite which rules all other members of society.
The classical elite theorists posit that elites derive almost the
original power from coercive sources through the monopoly of military
factor. The minority, either political class or governing elite compose of
all those that occupy political power or those that influence governmental
decisions. This minority undergo changes in its membership and
composition. These changes may ordinarily be by recruitment of new
members of society. Sometimes the change is by incorporation of new
social groups and accordingly a complete replacement of ousted elite by
counter elite through revolution. The last form of change comes about
when elite refuses to respond to the first two changes.
Elite theorists also talked about what they called the “circulation of
elites”. This can be explained as a situation whereby one set of elite
(political executives) is replaced by other possessing similar traits. This is
what Mosca Pareto was describing when he generalized that “history is a
graveyard of aristocracies”. This statement show that inevitability of
change do not exist within the elite facet. This change can take different
forms itself (e.g. from the non-governing elite) or between the elite and
the rest of the population and while such changes go on, they affect
merely the form but not the structure of rule which remains at all times
minority dominated (oligarchy).
65
In summary, elite theory suggests that “the people” are apathetic
and ill-informed about public policy, that elites actually shape opinion on
policy questions more than masses shape elite opinion. Public officials
and administrators merely carry out the policies decided upon by the elite.
Policies flow “downward” from elite to masses: they do not arise from
“mass demands”.
Implications of Elite Theory
According to Parry (1977) the following are the implications of the
elite’s theory:
1. Elitism implies that Public policy does not reflect demand of the
people so much as it does to the interest and values of elites.
Therefore changes and innovations in public policy come about as
a result of redefinition by elites of drawn values.
2. Secondly, elitism does or views the masses as passive, apathetic
and ill-informed, mass sentiments are more manipulated by elites
rather elites values being influenced by the sentiments of masse,
therefore communication between elites and masses flows
downwards.
3. Elites share in consensus about fundamental norms underlying the
social system that elites agree on the basic rules of the game as
well as the continuation of the social system itself.
66
Application of the Theory to the Study
Various poverty alleviation is the welfare programmes mounted
and dismantled by various regimes of post military to the Nigeria’s fourth
Republic. The elite who control or influence government decisions
change the policies and programmes to suit their personal economic and
political interest not minding if the termination of the programmes is to
the socio-economic disadvantage of the masses.
Various poverty alleviation programmes were intended to serve
and touch the lives and interest of the common masses. But the elites in
government use them to further their interests. Hence the Millennium
Development Goals is bound to go the way of other poverty alleviation
programmes because, the elite theory underscores the abandonment,
replacement and scraping of some welfare programmes. Consequent upon
the above, it is then our submission that the elite theory shows that the
elite in every society formulate policies and programmes to their own
benefits at the detriment of the masses who are supposed to be the real
beneficiaries. (Nnadozie 2005).
2.5 STUDY AREA.
The study area of the research is Enugu state,the coal city state.
According to United Nations demographic Report 2009, the state
population is tagged to 3.3million people.
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2.6 HISTORICAL INFORMATION ON ENUGU STATE
Formal Name: Enugu State of Nigeria.
Country: Nigeria
State: Enugu (27th August 1991 by Gen.Ibrahim Babangida)
Incoporated: 1909
Founder Ogui Nike People
Government: State Government and Local Government
Governor: Bar. Iheanacho Sullivan Chime. (as of the period of
the research)
Local Govt: 17 Local Government
Rulling Party: People Democratic Government (PDP)
Enugu is the capital of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in the
southeastern area of Nigeria and is largely populated by members of the
Igbo ethnic group. The city has a population of 3.3 milllion according to
the UN report 2009. The name Enugu is derived from the two Igbo words
Enu Ugwu meaning "hill top" denoting the city's hilly geography. The
city was named after Enugwu Ngwo which coal was found under.
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Since the 17th century the location of present day Enugu has been settled
by the Nike subgroup of the Igbo people; one of Enugu's neighbourhoods
still retains the village's old name Ogui. In 1900 the Southern Nigeria
Protectorate was established by the colonial administration of the British
Empire. The discovery of coal by the colonialists led to the building of
the Eastern Line railway to carry coal from the inland city to the port of
Port Harcourt, a city created for this purpose located 151 miles (243 km)
south of what was called Enugu Coal Camp. Enugu was then renamed
simply Enugu and developed among the few cities in West Africa that
were created from European contact. By 1958 Enugu had over 8,000 coal
miners. As of 2005, there are no significant coal mining activities left in
the city.
Enugu became the capital of the Eastern Region after Nigeria's
independence in 1960; a succession of territory adjustments in 1967,
1976 and 1991 led to Enugu becoming the capital of what is now Enugu
State. On 30 May 1967 Enugu was declared the capital of the short-lived
Republic of Biafra; for this Enugu is known as the "capital of Igboland."
After Enugu was captured by Nigeria, the Biafran capital was moved to
Umuahia.
Industries currently in the city include the urban market and bottling
industries. Enugu has become a preferred filming location for directors of
69
the Nigerian movie industry, dubbed as "Nollywood". Enugu's main
airport is the Akanu Ibiam International Airport which is being upgraded
to accommodate large aircraft. The main educational establishment in the
city is the Enugu campus of the University of Nigeria based in Nsukka, a
town north of Enugu and in the same state.
Enugu State University of Science and Technology (Esut)
Institute of Management and Technology (IMT)
Enugu state College of Education
Federal College of Education Eha-Amufu (FCEE)
State College of Educastaion Nsukka and many other Private
Universities.
Industrialisation
The Iva Valley coal mine A British campaign to invade Arochukwu and
open up the hinterland for British military and political rule was carried
out in 1901. A war between the British and Aro officially started on 1
December 1901 lasting till 24 March 1902 when the Aro were defeated.
The Aro Confederacy ended and the rest of Aro dominated areas was
added to The Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, declared in
1900. Europeans first arrived in the Enugu area in 1903 when the
British/Australian geologist Albert Ernest Kitson led an exploration of the
70
Southern Nigeria Protectorate to search for especially valued mineral
resources under the supervision of the Imperial Institute, London. By
1909 coal was found under the village of Enugwu Ngwo in the Udi and
Okoga areas and by 1913 the coal was confirmed to be in quantities that
would be viable commercially. By 1914 the colonial government had
already merged the Northern and Southern Nigeria Protectorate to form
the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.
In 1915 the British began talks with the indigenous people of the land that
would become Enugu about its acquisition in order to lay the Eastern
Line railway and to build a colliery. The first houses built in the area
were in a temporary settlement consisting of Igbo traditional mud housing
inhabited by a W.J. Leck and some other Europeans on Milliken Hill.
Another settlement known as Ugwu Alfred (Igbo: Alfred's Hill) or
Alfred's Camp, inhabited by an Alfred Inoma (a leader of indigenous
labourers from Onitsha) and his labourers, was located on a hillside.
After the land acquisition by the British, Frederick Lugard, the Governor-
General of Nigeria at the time, named the colliery built at the bottom of
the Udi Hills Enugu Coal Camp to distinguish it from Enugwu Ngwo
which overlooks the city from atop a scarp on Enugu's west. The first coal
mine in the Enugu area was the Udi mine opened in 1915 which was shut
down two years later and replaced with the Iva Valley mine. Enugu
71
became a major coal mining area and the only significant one in West
Africa. The Eastern Line railway connecting Enugu with Port Harcourt
was completed in 1916 in order to export the coal through its seaport of
which the city was created for this purpose. Enugu became one of the few
cities in West Africa created out of contact with Europeans. By 1916 parts
of Enugu reserved for Europeans were set up by the colonial government.
The area now known as the Government Reserved Area (GRA) became
the European Quarters located north of the Ogbete River; alongside this
was a section developed for African residents located south of the river.
The built-up area of Enugu comprised these two areas, and by 1917 the
city officially gained township status. On the African side of the city a
rapid influx of migrant workers sparked the development of squatter
camps on the Udi Hills near the coal mines and the Iva Valley.
In 1938 Enugu became the administrative capital of the Eastern Region.
The number of employed coal miners in Enugu grew from 6,000 (of
mostly Udi men) in 1948 to 8,000 in 1958. Enugu's population rose
sharply with its industrialisation; the population of the city reached
62,000 in 1952. Mining in Enugu was sometimes turbulent, as
demonstrated by the events of 18 November 1949 when 21 striking
miners were shot and killed and 51 wounded by police under British
governance. The massacre that came to be known as "The Iva Valley
72
Shooting" fuelled nationalist or "Zikist" sentiments among most
Nigerians, and especially amongst Eastern Nigerians. "Zikisim" was a
post World War II movement that was created out of admiration for
Nnamdi Azikiwe who was a prominent nationalist of the National
Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). The shooting was right
after a period of unrest when miners were angered by the belief that their
full pay was being held back by the colliery management, a belief that
was pushed by the nationalist press. Many of the Zikists tried to use the
Iva Valley shooting to fuel their nationalistic agenda and push the British
administration, who they viewed as imperialists, out of Nigeria.
Independence, war, and after
Enugu became a municipality in 1956 and Umaru Altine became its first
mayor. After four years passed, Nigeria gained its independence in 1960.
On 27 May 1967 the Nigerian government divided the Western, Northern
and Eastern Region into 12 states and Enugu was made the capital of the
new East Central State. On 30 May 1967 Enugu was declared the capital
of the short-lived Republic of Biafra which was created out of the East
Central State, Cross River State and Rivers State of eastern Nigeria.
Biafra was declared because of Eastern Nigerian sentiment to separate
from Nigeria after their members were involved in a series of ethnic
clashes with other ethnic groups in other parts of the country. The main
73
rivals of the mostly Igbo Eastern Nigerians were the Hausa/Fulani people
of Northern Nigeria. As war broke out between Biafra and Nigeria
(1967—1970), thousands of Igbo migrants in the northern and western
parts of Nigeria fled to their native east and Enugu became a destination
for these returnees. Radio Biafra, alternatively the Voice of Biafra
(formerly the Eastern Nigerian Broadcasting Service), was based in
Enugu; it was from here that the Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu Ojukwu, broadcast speeches and propaganda to Biafrans and
to the rest of Nigeria. Because of the war Enugu witnessed a decrease in
the number of non-Igbo, specifically non-eastern Nigerian residents. On 4
October 1967 the Nigerian military bombarded Enugu with artillery just
outside its boundaries before capturing it a week later, shortly after this
Umuahia became the new capital of the republic. Years after Biafra was
dissolved and the war ended, Enugu is still regarded as the "Capital of
Igboland." Enugu again became the capital of the East Central State after
the war finished and Biafra was dissolved in 1970. On 3 February 1976
the East Central State was broken into two new states, Imo and Anambra;
there were then 19 states in Nigeria; Enugu was the capital of Anambra.
On 27 August 1991 the military dictatorship of Ibrahim Babangida
divided the old Anambra State into two new states, Enugu State and
Anambra State. Enugu remained as the capital of the newly-created
Enugu State, while Awka became the capital of the new Anambra State.
74
Topography
Satellite image of Enugu and other communities neighbouring it. The
Enugu escarpment can be seen on the left where it has a lighter colour;
the Nyaba River can be seen on the bottom.
Despite its name meaning hill top in the Igbo language, Enugu lies at the
foot of an escarpment and not a hill. Enugu is located in the Cross River
basin and the Benue trough and has the best developed coal in this area.
Precambrian basement rock in this region is overlaid with sediments
bearing coal from the Cretaceous and Tertiary age. Coal seams in the
Enugu coal district measure between 1 and 2 metres (3.3 and 6.6 ft) in
thickness and the reserves have been estimated to be more than 300
million tonnes. Enugu's hills at the extreme may reach an elevation of
1,000 metres (3,300 ft). Highlands surrounding Enugu for the most part
are underlain by sandstone, while lowlands are underlain by shale. Much
of the escarpment stretching from Enugu to Orlu has been ravaged by soil
and gully erosion. Other geological features in Enugu include the Nike
Lake near which the Nike Lake Hotel has been built. The Ekulu, Asata,
Ogbete, Aria, Idaw and Nyaba rivers are the six largest rivers located in
75
the city. The Ekulu River is the largest body of water in Enugu urban and
its reservoir contributes to part of the city's domestic water supply.
Climate
Enugu is located in a tropical rain forest zone with a derived savannah.
The city has a tropical savanna climate. Enugu's climate is humid and this
humidity is at its highest between March and November. For the whole of
Enugu State the mean daily temperature is 26.7 °C (80.1 °F). As in the
rest of West Africa, the rainy season and dry season are the only weather
periods that recurs in Enugu. The average annual rainfall in Enugu is
around 2,000 millimetres (79%), which arrives intermittently and
becomes very heavy during the rainy season. Other weather conditions
affecting the city include Harmattan, a dusty trade wind lasting a few
weeks of December and January. Like the rest of Nigeria, Enugu is hot all
year round.
Cityscape and architecture
The tallest building in Enugu's Central Business District (CBD) is the
African Continental Bank (ACB) tower with six stories. The tower was
built in the late 50s for the African Continental Bank Limited which was
founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe who became the first president of Nigeria
after the country's independence from the United Kingdom on October
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1960. The opening of the building took place on 30 April 1959. Other tall
buildings include the Hotel Presidential opened on August 1963. The
seven story building contains 100 rooms and is located in the
Independence Layout. Hotel Presidential cost $2.5 million to build and
was commissioned by the government of what was then the Eastern
Region to serve visiting businessmen, officials and tourists. In the middle
of Enugu is the Michael Okpara Square, dedicated to the premier of the
former Eastern Region Michael Okpara. Beside the square is located the
Enugu State Government House, Enugu State House of Assembly and
Enugu State Judiciary Complex.
Crime
Enugu's crime rate rose in 2009 as kidnapping and armed robbery rates
increased in southeastern Nigeria specifically between September and
December. The Enugu State government sought to check the high
kidnapping rates by passing a bill on February 2009 that made
kidnapping by the use of a weapon a capital offence; the bill was passed
by the Enugu House of Assembly unanimously. 1,088 arrests were made
in the city between September and December 2009; 270 of these were in
September, 303 were in October, 295 in November and 220 were in
77
December. 477 of these detainees were accused of committing capital
offences which included kidnapping. The motives of kidnappers in Enugu
are primarily financial and some ransoms went into the millions of Naira.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Enugu State, Dan Nwomeh,
had his ransom set as high as �500 million (3.3 million US Dollars As of
26 June 2010), dropping to �200 million and then �50 million before he
was released without a ransom being paid because of the refusal of the
government to negotiate with the kidnappers. Much of the crime in Enugu
and the rest of Nigeria has been attributed to unemployment.
Culture
As a Northern Igbo city, Enugu shares cultural traits with its
neighbouring towns. Two important Igbo traditional festivals take place
in Enugu annually; the Mmanwu festival and the New yam festival. The
Mmanwu festival takes place in November and features various types of
masquerades that each have a name. This festival is held at the Nnamdi
Azikiwe Stadium as a parade of carnival-like masquerades that are
accompanied by music and it is supported by the Enugu Council of Arts
and Culture. The second important Igbo festival, the New yam festival
known as 'iwa ji', is held between August and October marking the
harvesting and feasting of the new yam. The yam is a root vegetable that
78
is the staple crop and a cultural symbol for the Igbo people. Recently
created festivals include the Enugu Festival of Arts which is managed by
the Enugu Council of Arts and Culture. The festival highlights African
culture and traditions and it is here that the Enugu Council of Arts and
Culture included the Mmanwu parade as part of the events. The Enugu
Festival of Arts was started in 1986; it has modernised the Mmanwu
festival by transferring it from its traditional village surroundings to the
urban setting of Enugu. Diana, Princess of Wales was a notable spectator
of Enugu's cultural shows when she visited the city in 1990.
The tourism industry in Enugu, managed by the Enugu State Tourism
Board (ESTB), is small; however, the state government recognises a
variety of historic and recreational sites. These sites include places like
the Udi Hills, from which the majority of Enugu city can be viewed. The
Polo amusement park is a funfair that is among the first generation of
public parks in the city; other parks in the city include the Murtala
Muhammed Park. Enugu's former coal mines, Onyeama and Okpara, are
open to public visits. Some other spots include: The Institute of
Management and Technology (IMT) Sculptural Garden and Art Gallery,
the Eastern Region Parliamentary Building, the Old Government Lodge,
and Enugu Golf course. Enugu Zoo is another attraction in the city. It is
divided into the botanical garden and the zoological section. A National
79
Museum is located near Enugu at its north, although it receives few
visitors. It is managed by National Commission for Museums and
Monuments (NCMM). Other galleries include the Bona Gallery.
Media and literature
English-language newspapers published and sold in Enugu include the
Daily Star, Evening Star, The Renaissance and New Renaissance. One of
the earliest newspapers published in Enugu was the Eastern Sentinel
published by Nnamdi Azikiwe's Zik Group in 1955, but failed in 1960.
Among the city's television and radio stations are the Nigerian Television
Authority's network affiliate (NTA Enugu) headquarters located at
Independence Layout; and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria
(FRCN) network affiliate station (Radio Enugu) which broadcasts in
English, Igbo, Efik, Ijaw and Tiv.] Enugu State Broadcasting Service
Television (ESBS-TV) is a state owned television broadcasting company
which offers 18 hours of continuous broadcasting on weekends. Enugu,
after Lagos is the preferred city for shooting films in Nigeria and a film
production centre in the East. In 2007, Enugu hosted the first-ever film
festival in the state, the Enugu International Film Festival. Held at Hotel
Presidential, the festival's intent was to highlight Enugu as a "film making
80
hub" in Africa including movie premiers and prizes for different film
categories.
Some of Nigeria's well known writers were born and have lived in the
city of Enugu. Chinua Achebe, writer of Things Fall Apart lived in Enugu
in 1958, the same year the book was published. He moved to the city
again with his family during the Nigerian-Biafran War after escaping
Lagos. It was at this time that he met and became friends with Nigerian
poet Christopher Okigbo where they started a publishing house called
Citadel Press releasing such titles as How the Dog was domesticated and
How the Leopard Got His Claws. Christopher Okigbo lived in Enugu
during the early months of the Nigerian-Biafran War in the late 60's.
Okigbo's home on Hilltop contained many of his unpublished writings
which were mostly destroyed by bombing when the war started.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, writer of Half of a Yellow Sun, a winner of
the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007, was born in Enugu in 1977 and
grew up in Nsukka.
Sports
The Enugu Rangers, a first-division professional league association
football team, is Enugu's home team that plays in the Nigerian Premier
League and are based in the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Former Rangers
81
players include Jay-Jay Okocha and Taribo West. Enugu's main sports
centre is the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, named after Nnamdi Azikiwe, the
first president of Nigeria. The stadium remained the centre of sports for
the whole of the Eastern Region until the Nigerian-Biafran War broke
out. At the war's end the stadium was refurbished. Enugu was a host for
the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup games (24 October – 15 November)
alongside Calabar and five other Nigerian cities with matches taking
place at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium. Its hosting of the FIFA U-17
World Cup benefited Enugu through the renovation of the Nnamdi
Azikiwe Stadium, having had such things as a new artificial surface laid.
Economy
Nicknamed the Coal City, Enugu's economy in the early 20th century
depended on coal mining in the Udi plateau; this industry was the pushing
force towards the city's growth. The Nigerian Coal Corporation has been
based in Enugu since its creation in 1950 where it controlled coal mining.
With the creation of the Eastern Line, Enugu was connected with the sea
via Port Harcourt to its south and later connected to the city of Kaduna to
Enugu's north. The Biafran war brought widespread devastation that
forced a decline in coal production from damage or destruction of
equipment. As of 2005 coal mining is no longer the major source of
82
income and mines lay unused. Other minerals mined in Enugu include
iron ore, limestone, fine clay, marble, and silica sand.
Healthcare
In Enugu, health care services can be obtained at several institutions
including the ESUT (Enugu State University of Science and Technology)
Teaching Hospital; University of Nigeria, Enugu, Teaching Hospital;
Park Lane General Hospital in the GRA; PMC (Peenok Medical Center)
located on Ziks Avenue in Uwani; Hansa Clinic on Awolowo Street in
Uwani; Niger Foundation Hospital and Diagnostic Centre on Presidential
Close in the Independence Layout; and the Ntasi Obi Ndi no n'Afufu
Hospital organization located on Enuguabor Street in the Trans-Ekulu
layout, among others. Some of the specialist hospitals in Enugu include
the Psychiatric Hospital Enugu and the National Orthopaedic Hospital
Enugu (NOHE).
Many of the hospitals in Enugu are privately run. The UNTH and the
National Orthopaedic Hospital are among some of the government
controlled hospitals in the city. The medical equipment for the UNTH
was upgraded in 2009 as well as parts of the hospital which were
renovated in the same year. Most hospitals in the city suffer from a poor
standard of medical facilities available to them; many of the city's citizens
83
travel abroad for medical care. However, hospitals have been aided by
foreign organisations and by Enugu's community at home and abroad
who have donated medicine and other medical equipment. The most
developed government hospital in Enugu is the Park Lane Hospital. The
governor has said that the state has bought some ambulance service
vehicles in March 2010. Enugu State has established free medical care for
pregnant women and for all children under 5 years of age in the state. The
child healthcare programme, founded under the District Health System
(DHS), was added to the states 2008 budget. Enugu State has a
HIV/AIDS prevalence of 6.5%, one of the highest in the country.
Transport
Enugu is located on the narrow-gauge Eastern Line railway linked to the
city of Port Harcourt; the Enugu train station is by the side of the National
Stadium; dating back to its coal-mining origins, it is located on Ogui
Street. The main forms of transportation in the city are taxi cabs and
buses. Okada (motorcycles), once served as public transportation in the
city until the state government banned them from this use in April 2009.
Most transport enters and leaves the city through Enugu's Ogbete Motor
Park, Garki Motor Park serves as a transport pick-up point as well.
84
Unregistered taxis are known as Kabu Kabu and are differentiated with
registered ones through the lack of yellow paint on the unregistered
vehicles. In 2009, Enugu introduced a taxi job scheme under 'Coal City
Cabs' to help in the eradication of poverty in the city. 200 registered
Nissan Sunny taxis, provided by the state government; and 200 registered
Suzuki taxis, provided by the Umuchinemere Pro-Credit Micro Finance
Bank, were given out on loan to unemployed citizens in the city who will
operate as taxi drivers and will own the vehicles after payments are
completed. 20 buses with the capacity for 82 passengers seated and
standing were introduced as Coal City Shuttle buses on 13 March 2009 to
run as public transport for Enugu urban.
The main airport in the state is the Akanu Ibiam International Airport which can
be accessed by buses and taxis. Renovations began on 30 November 2009 to upgrade
it to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft. These plans include extending the 2,400-
metre (7,900 ft) runway by 600 metres (2,000 ft) to make it 3 kilometres (1.9 mi)
long; the runway will be widened from 45 to 60 metres (148 to 200 ft). It is estimated
that the project will cost N4.13bn (27.3 million US Dollars As of 26 June 2010).
85
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 SOURCES AND METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
To ensure an adequate coverage of the research findings, two
methods of data collection would be adopted in this study. Therefore,
both primary and secondary sources were used.
Primary Sources: These are facts that were obtained directly from data
entered by the research himself. These are primary in the sense that they
were not gotten from other person’s work and have hence some degree of
originality. Data relating to the extent of implementation of the MDGs
goal one, (eradicate poverty and hunger) in Enugu state were obtained
86
from the people in the hinterland that is, the beneficiaries, because, it is
expected that they are the people in the appropriate stand to testify from
their benefits and programmes they have gained and achieved from the
Agency.
These people are selected from eleven local governments out of the
seventeen in Enugu state.
The reason behind this population and sample shall be discussed in
detail in our population and sample of study.
Moreover, Data were also collected from the related ministries and
establishment, e.g., the ministries of Agriculture, Budget and Planning,
Commerce and Industry in Enugu state, also from NAPEP, DFID and
UNDP where the programmes and project of MDG are being anchored in
Enugu state by means of Personal Oral Interview.
Grade Level 08-15 officers within the above ministries and
establishment/Agencies were mostly interviewed.
Owing to the sensitive nature of the subject matter, it was
necessary for the population of senior cadre officers to be sampled. Here
we selected from three ministries within Enugu state and three
establishment/Agencies namely; Ministries, Agriculture, Budget and
Planning, Commerce and Industry, Agencies, NAPEP, UNDP and DFID.
87
Secondary Source, Data obtained from related work of others come
under this classification; expert authors, and individuals have come up
with own views in form of written works in literature, Journals,
Newspaper and Seminar Papers. These views were used to some extent in
the research.
3.2 Method of Data Analysis
The most appropriate analysis method used for this research was
content analysis method which involves an examination of views,
thoughts, experiences and opinions of scholars expressed in any formal
document such as ministries and agency’s gazettes, involving their
projects and programmes, media, magazines and publications, text books
and journal, Agency’s reports etc. Moreover opinions of the people
interviewed will be used also to analyze the data the method will help us
to assess and evaluate the data collected to ensure that the study will be
comprehensive in scope, systematic in form but also critical and rational
in orientation.
3.3 Population of Study
In academic research, a population is made up of all conceivable
element, subjects or observations relating to a particular phenomenon of
interest to the researcher. Therefore, the population studies of this
88
research were the entire citizens of Enugu state. In Enugu state, we have
17 Local Government Areas and three senatorial zones. Enugu East
Senatorial Zone has six (6) local governments, namely; Enugu East,
Enugu North, Enugu South, Isi-uzo, Nkanu East and Nkanu West. The
second senatorial zone is Enugu North with six (6) local governments
namely; Igbe-etiti, Igbe-eze North, Igbe-eze south, Nsukka, Udenu and
Uzo-uwani. While Enugu West has five (5) local government namely;
Aninri, Awgu, Ezeagu, Ojiriver and Udi.
It was on this premise that we opted to select four local government
from Enugu East and North Senatorial zones each hence both has greater
number of local government and represents a greater population, then,
three from Enugu west hence it has only five local government.
Moreover, considering the objective to the study and the nature of
the study, emphasis was embedded on the rural local government to
identify and assess how the MDG programmes have affected their lives
and to ascertain how poverty and hunger have been challenged.
Therefore, in Enugu East senatorial we selected Isi-uzo, Nkanu East,
Nkanu West and Enugu South; in Enugu north, we selected Igbe-eze
South, Igbe-etiti, Udenu and Uzo-uwani, while in Enugu West senatorial
zone, we selected Aninri, Ezeagu and Awgu.
These selected local governments were been choosen on the
following reasons.
89
1) The populace are highly incapacitated financially
2) Where we have well registered organizations where data can be
collected.
3) The areas that MDG Agencies had some encounters.
Meanwhile, the stated eleven local governments can be referred as
a good representation for the entire seventeen local governments in the
state.
3.4 Sample of Study
As was earlier stated, a total of eleven (11) local government were
used as a sample size of this study, in each of the local governments, we
choosed the registered women organizations, and the registered less
privileged organizations. These two groups were selected because of the
following reasons;
a) They were registered group that has good representive figure of
the each local government.
b) They were the targeted group by the MDGs Agency, in fact, they
are the expected beneficiaries.
90
c) They were the appropriate group where I was able to elicit
reliable information with regards to MDGs assessment in the
state.
d) They were the people that are faced out rightly with the menace
of poverty and hunger which are the two major variables in this
study.
Meanwhile, interviews and investigation were been anchored on
these eleven local government through these two registered organization
in the local governments.
Note: The less priviledged and armless organizations include both
male and female folks, old and young.
3.5 Sampling Technique
In academic research, two sampling techniques are obtainable in
social sciences namely, the probability and the Non-probability sampling,
the former was adopted for this study because, it is a method in which the
sample items or subjects are chosen randomly, i.e. where every item in
the population is given equal and independent chance of being included
in the sample.
Within the probability sampling methods itself, I opted to use the
stratified procedure. This is an applied random sampling method, in this
method, the population is just grouped into some definite characteristics.
91
These groups are called Strata. From these strata the sample is chosen by
applying random selection technique on each stratum in choosing a
particular number of items from the various strata, I ensured that the
numbers are proportional to the stratum’s share of the total population.
These are the obvious reason behind my decision to use eleven
selected local government. Then in each of the local government two
registered groups (Women organization and less priviledged
organization) were used because, they are the reliable groups that have an
appropriate representation of the population.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF DATA/ANALYSIS
This section deals with the presentation of data collected from
various sources, special emphasis was placed on data from the
beneficiaries and other sources, since our analysis was based on content
analysis.
The following statement on MDGs is credited to various scholars
and writers.
It should be recalled to our memory that the MDGs programmes
are eight in number, but with regards to this study we only assessed the
92
goal one which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, it is
imperative to state it unequivocally once again that, the study focused on
Enugu state only.
4.1 Data Presentation and Analysis
The following tables represent some of the packages, subsidies and
supplement distributed by the state MDGs programme as of 2009 and the
list of the beneficiaries within the selected eleven local governments in
the state.
The source of these data comes from the United Nations MDGs
Project Gazette (2009) Enugu state chapter, with regards to goal one of
the MDGs programme.
Table I
I
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93
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94
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(
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)
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(
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)
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96
s
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� SOURCE; MDGs Project Gazettes (2009) Enugu State Chapter.
SOURCE; MDGs Project Gazettes (2009) Enugu State Chapter.
97
4.2 RESEARCH FINDINGS
From the research carried out, it is glaring that the implementations
of goal one of the MDGs programme seem to be crawling with a little
speed. Though, the agency had pushed money and supplement to this
goal with hope that things should take shape with time.
Prior to the inception of Sulivan’s Administration in 2007, the
immediate past administration did not integrate the MDGs programme to
his policies and programme.
In our finding moreover, we were able to observe that the agency
was made incapacitated and unsuited to curb the menace of poverty and
hunger as a result of government failure to integrate them in her
programmes and policies.
Also, controversies relating to her mode of operation made their
impact not to be felt by the people, because in the state, MDG has an
office without sign-post, they are existing under UNDP organization and
her programmes are being executed through NAPEP which is a
subsidiary of Federal Agency.
Secondly, from the interview, we found that elitism is a
cankerworm to the quest to curtail poverty and hunger. The elitist nature
is in fact a sine-qua-non to embezzlement and liquidation of the
98
programmes fund and materials. Here the elite class will at all time try to
divert whatsoever material that are coming to the population because they
are seen as state-holders which are to seat and discuss before any item
should be approved and distributed to the people. (Major opinions from
the interview summarized).
Finally, we also found that MDG lacks the human resources to
carry out their programmes by themselves, this is why they always use
the government human and material resources which in turn, the
government will try to usurp their efforts. (Society for Poverty
Alleviation, Enugu State)
The MDG organization from the gazette failed to empower the
people with little fund which can enable them to establish a little or small
scheme business like fish farming, livestock business, piggry farming etc.
They did not participate fully like providing the cultivating and
harvesting tractors for the farmers which would have alleviated their
efforts to see for maximum production of food with will in turn reduce
extreme poverty and hunger. (MDGs Gazette 2009)
4.3 Discussion of the Findings
From the interviews conducted, the greater opinions of the
two groups stated that the MDGs programmes have not really done what
they are supposed to do in accordance to their programmes with regards
99
to the world summit proposals. These opinions can be vividly backed up
from the level of poverty in the state before the emergence of the
programme and during the programme, they argued that, poverty and
hunger have grown to a higher level not withstanding the activities of
MDGs in the state, with these reactions from the supposed beneficiaries,
it is evident that MDGs have not tackled the menace of poverty and
hunger.
The Agencies and the staff interviewed summarily stated that the
problems are not improper administration by the staff but lapses from
government. They stated that government failed to give MDG an
independent hand to curb poverty and run their programmes as designated
by the world summit. They said, this was the reason that made MDG
office to be attached with the UNDP, while the activities of UNDP are
been operated by the NAPEP institutions in the state.
From these lapses, it became evident that MDGs cannot operate
and render the services as required.
From our study, it is apparent that MDGs has not really done much things
to curtail poverty as they go around doing the much hyped publicity,
while poverty and hunger continued to close down on the masses.
Therefore, the analysis above proves that the Agency has not performed
as expected from the designated goals with reference to the United
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Nations agreement. The analysis of our findings embedded on our finding
from the literatures and in the field with the beneficiaries.
Perhaps, due to its (poverty) complexity and its corrosive effects on
humanity, many journal articles and books have tackled the issues of
poverty. Poverty destroys aspirations, hope, and happiness. In Nigeria, as
in other poverty stricken nations, this is the poverty one can feel. Poverty
affects tolerance of others. Support of civil liberties openness towards
foreigners affects positive relationships with subordinates, self-esteem
and sense of personal competence. It also affects one disposition to
participate in community affairs, interpersonal trust and self-satisfaction.
It has been noted that deprivation of elementary capabilities can be
reflected on premature mortality, significant undernourishment
(especially on children), persistent morbidity and illiteracy, literacy are
correlated with the productivity and prosperity of a nation. High level
poverty could lead to brain drain – the emigration of many of the most
highly educated workers to rich countries, where these workers can enjoy
a higher standard of living. The poverty of a nation can also lead to
human trafficking, prostitution and the spread of HIV/AIDS, child labour
abuse of human and civil rights. In addition poverty leads to corruption,
disruption of family relations and social life, causes rising crime rate,
among other vices.
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From the study, we can argue persuasively that an individual’s
advantage (or otherwise) in society should not be judged solely on his or
her income. Poverty must also be measured in terms of substantive
freedoms he or she enjoys to lead the kind of life he or she has reason to
value. Therefore, poverty is a deprivation of basic capabilities such as
undernourishment and illiteracy, rather than merely lowness of income,
which is the standard criterion of identification of poverty. He adds that
the capability poverty perspective does not involve any denial of the fact
that low income is clearly one of the major causes of poverty. Since lack
of income can be a principal reason for a person’s capability deprivation.
He notes that poverty as capability inadequacy and lowness of income are
related, because income is such an important means as capabilities. Since
enhanced capabilities would tend to expand a person’s ability to be more
productive and earn a high income.
Poverty is degrading to human beings, and the life of the person
afflicted by it is comparatively miserable and brief. Thus, grave threat to
the future stability of Nigeria lie in the masses beset by absolute poverty.
Consequently, poverty, destitution, indigence and scarcity are words that
show images of economic disadvantage and lack of financial resources.
Political instability and national insecurity are other negative
effects of poverty. Poverty as a state of deprivation makes the deprived to
be vulnerable and violent in nature. We are of the opinion that the major
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causes of the urhobo-itsekiri crisis and in some other Niger Delta
communities is because the poor are always agitating for better standard
of living, provision of basic needs and resource control as an opportunity
to alleviate their condition.
Poverty increases illiteracy and poor performance of political
leaders. Poverty deprives the poor, who are majority of the electorates
from having basic education. Since they are not educated, it becomes
difficult to impact such democratic values as freedom of choice of
candidate, freedom of speech, value and respect for the right of people,
peaceful co-existence etc on them. Illiteracy deprives the electorate the
opportunity to participate effectively in democratic activities. Even the
elected representative default in their responsibility, as a result of their
ignorance – poverty of the mind arising from illiteracy … Most of the
elected representatives, who are by circumstances, victims of poverty find
it difficult to effectively formulate and implement good public policies
for the masses they represent.
Another negative effect of poverty is its social impact on the poor
masses. The exposure of the poor to difficulties makes them vulnerable to
criminal behaviour or act. The unemployed and underemployed always
indulge in criminal activities, sometimes to enable them afford their basic
needs. A good number of Nigerian young girls were repatriated from
Europe on account of prostitution outside the shores of Nigeria. Several
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studies have shown that the involvement of young girls in prostitution is
as a result of poverty. The implication of Nigerian girls being in such
dimension of prostitution not only impacts negatively on Nigeria’s health
record, but also gives bad signal to foreign communities on the state of
poverty and health in Nigeria
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CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary
In spite of all efforts towards poverty reduction in Nigeria, as well
as that of Millennium Development Goals; eradication of extreme
poverty and hunger, the mid-point assessment reveals that there have not
been any significant success or achievement recorded. This was as a
result of some contravening variables that have hindered achievement.
Poverty and hunger have been on the increase and there seems to be no
hope in sight. This could be hinged on over concentration on oil and
neglect of the Agricultural sector, thereby there is recorded increase of
hunger in the land and much of the rural population remains in their own
circle of poverty. Hence there is need to give greater attention to
developing the agricultural sector and addressing the needs of the rural
population.
5.2 Recommendation
The question of whether Nigeria can or cannot meet the MDGs is a
crucial one that should agitate the minds of politicians, government
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bureaucrats, civil society, activists and development workers. In our
view, there is no straightforward answer. It can be answered either in the
negative or the affirmative. The NEEDS document clearly states that “if
present trend continues, the country is not likely to meet the Millennium
Development Goals”, therefore for MDGs to record success:
� NAPEP will deepen, enhance and better target its youth’s
empowerment programmes by collaborating with the National
Directorate of Employment (NDE) which has the primary
mandates on this. The new measure will expand production,
improve processing and expand marketing activities.
� Rural Development through linkages with export revenues
generation and robust terms of trade, agro-industrial growth,
employment generation as income and food security.
� Establishment of a Multi-Partner Matching Fund (MP-MF) which
will lead to the pooling of more than N 8 billion which is to be paid
out as micro-credits to poor citizens of the state mostly for
agricultural and some other informal economic activities.
� Introduction of the conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme which
targets the core poor or the disadvantaged citizens, this includes the
stigmatized and physical challenged.
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� Creation of village Economic Development Strategies
(VEDS).This organization will work together with NAPEP in the
state.
� Collaboration of many federal and local agencies nationwide with
NAPEP to implement its Multi-Partner Matching Funds (MPMF),
Condition Cash Transfer (CCT), and Village Economic
Development Strategies (VEDS). These will help in carrying out
other activities in micro-credit administration for crop production,
fishery, livestock, and encouragement of large holder farmers.
These obviously will accelerate the pace of achieving the MDGs
goal one. On the other hand; the 2005 report gives the conditions
for meeting the goals, strong political will and sustained efforts,
perhaps, a better way to frame the question is what can Nigeria do
to meet the MDGs in 2015? In our view, Nigeria has sufficient
resources to meet the MDGs in 2015. But for this to happen, as
argued above, the country will have to change course in the
conceptualization and implementation of policies and programmes
to achieve the MDGs.
One good initiative in Nigeria designed to meet the MDGs is the
Oversight of Public Expenditure in Nigeria (OPEN) set up to monitor the
Debt Relief Gain (DRG). Two issues make this initiative unique. The first
107
is the leadership of the process which has been participatory, open,
transparent and all inclusive with participation of private sector and civil
society. The second and perhaps most important is that systems have been
put in place to track resources. This is perhaps the model that should
become the norm in every ministry, department and agency at all levels
of government.
It must be however be recognized that development is a complex
issue and goes beyond allocation of Debt Relief Gains to some MDG
Ministries. According to (Ake, 1982) “development requires growth and
structural change, some measure of distributive equity, modernization in
social and cultural attitudes, a degree of political transformation, stability,
and improvement in health and education also in employment”. In our
view, social transformation will require good change and progress in the
following areas:
• Transparency and Accountability: Several analysis of the challenges
development in Nigeria has identified lack of transparency and
accountability as a major obstacle. Accountants in Nigeria have a
great role to play in this regard. They must change the way auditing is
done from financial auditing certifying payments and receipts to
systems auditing and examining the whole concept of value for
money. Otherwise, accountants and auditors will just be certifying
corruption.
108
• Political Transformation: The political system and the way it
engenders commitment, participation and patriotism by the people
contributes immensely to national cohesion, peace and stability and
development.
• Human Development: Development implies the fulfillment of basic
human needs including those for education and health.
• Urban Development: The growth of urbanization is definitely
increasing and there will probably be more people in urban areas by
2015. There must be urban development process that is inclusive and
not based on dislocation of slum dwellers without alternatives.
• Employment: Employment is the surest way of achieving the MDGs
because individuals will receive income and will contribute to the
economy.
• Transformation of Power Relations: Whenever power is concentrated
in the hands of a few, they will utilize such power to accumulate
wealth.
• Partnership with development partners: It has been documented that in
order to make adequate progress towards achieving the MDGs,
Nigeria will require additional external financing averaging about US
$6.4 billion annually between 2005 and 2008. Even if the resources in
the country are used effectively, there will still be challenges in
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meeting the MDGs. Meanwhile, Nigeria is seriously under-aided.
Nigeria receives only US $28 per capita. In addition, meeting the
MDGs will require partnership between government, the public sector
and the private sector. In particular, it will require transformers from
the public sector, civil society, media and private sector to build a
critical movement of people advocating for and implementing change.
5.3 Conclusion
The problem of development is a global challenge and the MDGs
are a response by world leaders. The mid-point assessment of goal one of
MDGs is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in Nigeria, this reveals
that poverty and hunger persist. And the situation indicates that there are
challenges in meeting the goal by 2015. For Nigeria to meet the goal in
2015, there is the need to formulate and implement policies that will
promote transparency and accountability; overcome institutional
constraints; promote pro-poor growth; bring about structural change,
enhance re-orientation; engineer political transformation; promote human
development; practice inclusive urban development; generate
employment and transformation power relations.
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