Reasons why poverty cannot be easily alleviated
Poverty cannot be easily alleviated when the government lack in political will and commitment to the country, even if the country has the resources that are required to alleviate poverty. Poor governance means that the government is not committed to improving the country, so it is unwilling to put in the effort to carry out solutions that will alleviate poverty. Poor governance will happen in countries where there is a divide. Sometimes, one region is persecuted by the federal government (the overall government) over the other.
Why would there be poor governance?
When there is persecution, the government would be unwilling to commit to the region that is persecuted. Even if economic policies or poverty alleviation programmes are implemented by the government in the region, as they may not be carried out strictly because of this unwillingness of government officials. The earnings of the country would also be unequally distributed between the regions, with money more concentrated in the more powerful region. Therefore, less resources can be acquired to help the persecuted region. As a result, that region would remain in its current economic situation, and its people would continue to suffer in poverty. This is even if the region has a big potential to be lifted from poverty, such as a resource-rich land, which can generate a large income if the resources were to be exploited. This is because the government would be unwilling to pump in money and invest in the infrastructure that is needed to exploit the resources.
Case study (North Nigeria)
Due to the religious divide in Nigeria, the government does not have an equal treatment and distribution of resources between the North and the South. However, as South Nigeria is able to generate more revenue for the government, they distributed more resources to that region and thus neglected the North. After the revising the formula in 1999, currently, 13 percent of revenues goes to the oil-producing states according to the derivation principle, and of the remaining revenues, the federal government receives 53 percent, state governments 27 percent and local government areas 20 percent. Compared to the previous formula, there is a significant economic power being transferred into the hands of state governors of North Nigeria. This gives them considerable capacity to make visible change. For instance, the responsibilities for schools, basic health care, water provision, sanitation and most local roads lie with the state governments (Hoffmann, 2014). As North Nigeria thrives in agriculture and provides jobs for most people, it should be invested in to become the economic driver of the region, which will then provide a stable income for the Nigerians. However, many in the North feel that the governors and local government officials have not responded to the expectation of investing in infrastructural development and job creation (Hoffmann, 2014). This means that there was no or little efforts made by the governments to invest the money on North Nigeria such that little effect was shown and felt by the Northerners.
Also, there have been many untapped mineral resources in Nigeria, which value has been estimated to run into hundreds of trillions of dollars. Most of these are buried in the bowels of North Nigeria (Omoh, 2015). However, the government did not exploit these mineral resources which potentially can alleviate poverty in North Nigeria.
Also, there have been many untapped mineral resources in Nigeria, which value has been estimated to run into hundreds of trillions of dollars. Most of these are buried in the bowels of North Nigeria (Omoh, 2015). However, the government did not exploit these mineral resources which potentially can alleviate poverty in North Nigeria.
Why can poverty not be easily alleviated in North Nigeria?
In the case of North Nigeria, it is the region that is persecuted by the government. The federal government is influenced by their own interests so they favour South more, causing lesser resources given to and investments in North Nigeria. After the revision of formula of revenue distribution, the state governments should make use of the increase in amount of money received to create jobs and stable income for the people and invest on infrastructure such as roads and transportation so that the people could go to town and sell their crops. However, the government did little despite that the money allocated should be sufficient to be invested on North Nigeria.
Also, having a successful exploitation in mineral resources can help in poverty alleviation due to the high revenue it can generate. The exploit on of oil in the South is a good example of how exploitation of resources can alleviate poverty. However, the government was unwilling to invest money on North Nigeria due to the divide, losing a good opportunity to alleviate poverty. The poor governance in North Nigeria is causing the poverty situation to be difficult to improve.
Most of the northern population, about 70 per cent, lives in rural agrarian communities. The relative poverty is most apparent in the north of the country, with Sokoto state's poverty rate the highest at 86.4% (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2012), and it is still increasing despite the growing economy of Nigeria, inclusive of the South. This shows that the North’s poverty rate is increasing due to the poor governance.
Also, having a successful exploitation in mineral resources can help in poverty alleviation due to the high revenue it can generate. The exploit on of oil in the South is a good example of how exploitation of resources can alleviate poverty. However, the government was unwilling to invest money on North Nigeria due to the divide, losing a good opportunity to alleviate poverty. The poor governance in North Nigeria is causing the poverty situation to be difficult to improve.
Most of the northern population, about 70 per cent, lives in rural agrarian communities. The relative poverty is most apparent in the north of the country, with Sokoto state's poverty rate the highest at 86.4% (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2012), and it is still increasing despite the growing economy of Nigeria, inclusive of the South. This shows that the North’s poverty rate is increasing due to the poor governance.