[Nigeria] Our leaders are not serious about reducing poverty, says Baba Shehu

From The Vanguard

By Arinola Sobowale

Hon. Fanta Baba Shehu, is the Chairman House Committee on Poverty Alleviation, talks about the work of the House committee in helping tackle the problem of poverty. She says a lot needs to be done on the part of government if Nigeria is get out of the poverty trap. Excerpts:

What are the areas your committee think government should focus on in trying to eradicate poverty in Nigeria?

Our committee is one of the most important committees in the National Assembly, because, it constitutes about 45 members, it is this large number so that we dialogue together, work together to eradicate poverty in Nigeria. Moreover, as far as the budget is concerned, our main responsibility is to appropriate money that comes from the presidency to NAPEP. In 2005 budget, we approved about N2 billion for NAPEP. The major area that we want NAPEP to work on is the area of micro credit. We appropriated about N200 million for each state so that the farmers, the youths and the women can come up with their clubs and association and be able to acquire loan, not free, but with very little interest, less than 2%. We have done that, we have approved the budget and to our dismay, NAPEP did not collect anything that we appropriated for in the 2005. We do not know why Mr. President refused to release money to NAPEP.

Can you share your views on the United Nations objective of eradication of poverty in Nigeria?

You are a Nigerian and you can see that 75% of Nigerians are under poverty. We don’t have the basic amenities, especially when you go down to the north, you see a woman trekking about 6-7 km looking for water to cook for her children and drinking water, not to talk about water to wash cloth or to take a bath. And when you say that you are looking for water from morning until down, then farming activities would be paralyzed and the children might not be able to get the attention of their mother. Also when you talk about poverty in Nigeria, you talk about the education level. You know, not everybody in Nigeria goes to school. Most of the children in the rural areas they do not have classrooms to sit down and study. Some study under trees, which is not conducive. The environment is not conducive for them to read.

The textbooks that they are supposed to use, even the chalk are not there. The teachers have not been paid for about 2-3 months. Poverty is a problem all over the world, but in Nigeria it is rampant, but our leaders they don’t care, because they think that they have the money and their children are going to enjoy it. But we need to assure them that yes their children will be educated, but when they come back to Nigeria, they will meet the poor children, they are their colleagues, their friends and it will be to difficult for them to enjoy whatever they have. It will not be easy for them to share it and so many of these poor children that you see may become criminals, and then start attacking them, and there will be no peace. So this is very important, let our leaders listen to what people who are stakeholders in poverty eradication have to say, so that they can be able to grab something and use it for the interest of our people.

Evaluate the UN report that says Nigeria is 20th poorest country in the world in the light of resources available in the country?
The statistics are accurate, we are about 130 million in Nigeria, I just told you that about 75% are under poverty, and it is a UNDP statistics. If about 75% of Nigerians live below $1 a day then the statistics are correct. I have already told you what is happening. Mr. President sent a budget of N3bn and the National Assembly approved N3bn and we are now in October and nothing has been released. If this money has been released and if about N2bn goes to Nigerians and if about 100 people benefit in every state at least, people will say they contributed something to feed some mouths, our leaders are not serious in eradicating poverty. If we are 20 now maybe next year we will be 10. So we must put our heads together to revive Nigeria economically, we need to revive our agriculture, we need to be educated, we need to get portable water, clothing and everything so that we will not see much people begging and sleeping on the street, but the statistics is very clear.

One of the most glaring attributes of poverty is hunger, assess the submission that the single most effective way to reduce poverty is to reduce hunger?
That saying is true, it is related to what our people normally say, and that is why I say that we should go back to agriculture. If 80% of Nigerians will get three square meals on their table without buying them, they go to farm and they get the necessary materials for farming, the fertilizer, the tractor and the modern materials that are used for farming. Our government should endeavor to provide the necessary equipments used for farming, so that they can be able to produce more. Without agriculture, without farming, you know poverty will still increase. And if you know the weather condition of this country especially the northern part where the dry season is more than the raining season, we need a well mechanized farming system, so that it does not matter the season whether dry or raining season people can be able to produce something to eat. Lets hope that God will give courage to our leaders to help the poor people, if not the poverty will still increase.

What are some of strategies put in place to chart a new course towards provision of sustainable financial services for the poor and the low income groups in Nigeria?

We have many agencies within and outside Nigeria, which can come up with micro credit finance. We have micro credit finance institutions like the agricultural bank, whereby the Central bank can ask them to set aside about 10% of their profit for micro finance. Right now, we have about N100bn in Agricultural Bank, whereby small and medium scale entrepreneurs can be able to get loans from the agricultural bank, but the problem is now with the collateral that is required by the agricultural banks to be able to secure these loans. It is beyond the ordinary man and it comes back to the issue of poverty again. Who is going to guarantee you to get a loan of N250, 000? Even your mother will not agree for you to use the house document, and so we still come back to the government again to do something about it.

In addition, we have the People’s Bank and the Community Banks, and they also set aside some money for the micro credit but the problem is still with the collateral. Government does not give money just like that. The private organizations are not doing it, companies like MTN, if they can set aside a portion of the millions of profit they got this year, if they can be able to facilitate loans for our people, it will be very good but who are we to blame? It is our leaders, they are foreigners, they came, they invested and they are taking our money out of Nigeria, and they are not giving us the services that we need, but still they are making the country poorer and poorer. So, we still go back to our leaders again.

Do you think that the crime rate is in any linked with the poverty rate in Nigeria?

Exactly! When you see that a child completes his education up to university level without a job, what do you expect him to do? If the government does not do anything concrete, the situation will only get worse and worse. Although the last time, I heard the government intends to employ about 1000 people from each states including the FCT that is about 40,000 and so if they can do that and continue every year, it will go a long way. Our police should also be well equipped and paid accordingly, when they don’t have money, they force you to give them money. Some times, they even remove their uniforms and join the armed robbers, when there is no job then the crime rate increases. Our government must do something including the private organization, if we want to live in Nigeria and enjoy it.