Nigerian Minister Decries High Poverty Rate

from All Africa

Abuja, - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, has urged the government to take urgent steps to eradicate poverty in the country.

Maduekwe made the statement in Abuja, when he received the National Coordinator of NAPEP, Dr Magnus Kpakol.

"Unless the government eradicates poverty in the country, Nigeria as a nation and her citizens would not earn respect from the comity of nations," he said.

According to Maduekwe, a nation is strong when it can provide for the majority of its population and NAPEP has the capacity to deal with the situation.

The minister noted that the major practical step towards national security was to empower the people with adequate food, employment and attain the MDGs by 2015.

Earlier, Kpakol had said he was in the ministry to intimate the officials on the role government was playing in poverty eradication.

He disclosed that 7 million Nigerians were living under the poverty line, adding that the creation of more wealth would further assist in the reduction of poverty.