'70 Million Nigerians Live Below Poverty Level'

from All Africa

Daily Champion (Lagos)

By Abiodun Adelaja
Abuja

Over 70 million Nigerians are living below poverty level, Dr Otive Igbuzor, Country Director of ActionAid, Nigeria has disclosed in Abuja.

Presenting a paper at the maiden House of Representatives and Civil Society Forum, Igbuzor lamented that majority of Nigerians are wallowing in abject poverty in the midst of plenty.

Nigeria, he added, remains one of the 20 countries with the widest disparity between the rich and the poor, stressing that the chunck of the nation's wealth is in the hands of a few powerful individuals while the majority wallow in abject poverty.

Igbuzor who spoke on Legislature/Civil Society Partnership for Governance and Development, said that effective collaboration between the legislature and civil society organisations can ameliorate the situation.

He said what the citizenry expects from the legislature is formulation of legislation that alleviate poverty in the land as well as ensure equitable distribution of wealth.

"Partnership between the legislature and civil society organizations offer a space for participation, mutual respect, accountability and growth and development", he stated.

Flagging off the one-day interactive session, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, said the National Assembly would be willing to take inputs from civil society groups in the formulation of laws.

He stressed that the lawmakers alone do not possess all the knowledge required to discharge their responsibilities as the group's inputs at all levels of governance is imperative.

"We need to build the capacity of Nigerians to dialogue with government, question the activities of their representatives, participate in the law making process and the development of government policies and at the end hold public officials accountable for their actions", the speaker declared.

He however lamented that long years of military dictatorship adversly affected the psyche of the average Nigerian towards participatory governance.

"The impact of Civil Society on the development of democracy and good governance cannot be overemphasized. The history of Nigeria's transistion from dictatorship to a democratic nation cannot be complete without a substatntial mention of the contributions and sacrifices of members of civil society organizations", he stated.

Earlier in his welcome address, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon Eziuche Ubani, said the forum was intended to close existing gap between civil society groups and lawmakers towards effective legislation.

He said the issues now before the federal legislature require greater input from the citizenry through civil society groups.

"We have examined our calendar. The range of issues that would dominate our legislative agenda in the next three years are such that require the inputs of the Nigerain people. Such include electoral reforms, prison reform, further simplification of public procurement process, constitutional amendment, reforms of the public expenditure process, reforming the public health system, environment including understanding the impact of climatic changes, land rights, water management, accountability and access to public information etc.

"It is equally instructive to note that the drive to realize the millennium development goals with 2015 as target has equally made the engagement between the legislature and civil society groups in Nigeria imperative.