By Mobolaji Sanusi
“Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times… that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils.”
— Nelson Mandela (1918-2013).
Contemporary discourse, especially in developing countries including Nigeria, has focused on the economic hardship that is making life more miserable for the middle and working classes in particular. The vulnerable seem hopeless at the moment, as prospects for improvement in this world order look bleak.
Nevertheless, poverty should not be allowed to be weaponised by politicians in pursuit of their selfish aspirations. While poverty may appear avoidable, its prevalence is largely attributable to political greed. The sad reality, however, is that there is hardly any country on earth, notwithstanding its level of development, that is completely bereft of poverty. What varies is the degree of poverty, depending largely on how well a country is governed. This, in turn, reflects the quality of leadership and how firmly ingrained state institutions are in jurisdictions across the globe.
In its absolute sense, poverty is the denial of basic physical necessities for survival including clean water, food and safe housing. In its relative sense, it means living below the general standard in a particular society, thereby impeding full participation in normal socio-economic life. In its multidimensional sense, poverty is the denial of non-monetary essentials, including personal safety, quality education, social inclusion and good health. It also heightens vulnerability to shocks.
In countries where poverty is highly prevalent, unemployment is usually high, school enrolment is low and characterised by poor-quality outcomes; healthcare is not only shoddy but also unaffordable, socio-economic policies are unpredictable, resources are unequally distributed and corruption is inexorably pervasive, with the state appearing helpless to address the malaise.
Wherever poverty exists, whether in part or predominantly, it is not uncommon for governments to introduce social safety nets, including subsidies, to bridge inequality and reduce poverty. In recent times, discourse around widening inequality and rising poverty in Nigeria, ostensibly argued to be a short term consequence of the reforms embarked upon by the administration of President Bola Tinubu, has dominated national conversation.
To the administration’s credit, it has not failed to acknowledge that there’s hardship in the land. This acknowledgement has been accompanied by measures intended to ameliorate the severe effects of the economic reform agenda since the President assumed office on 29 May 2023. The pertinent question, therefore, is why the social safety nets put in place to cushion the severity of the reforms are not being adequately felt by the people.
The answer to the above question is partly provided by Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira, the Auditor-General of the Federation, when he revealed a failure to account for N33.75 billion in cash transfers meant for vulnerable Nigerians by the affected stakeholders.
The weighty allegation, written in black and white, was reportedly contained in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government that was submitted to the National Assembly. Such a finding, if true, is nothing short of criminal diversion of public funds by yet-to-be-named but easily identifiable public officials.
Shockingly, the affected funds were meant to alleviate the suffering of 3.29 million vulnerable households under the National Social Investment Programme being handled by the National Social Investment Programme Agency created by the NSIPA Act 2022.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari was in power when the agency was created with a noble social intervention mandate, including overseeing N-Power, the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, the National Cash Transfer Programme and the National Social Safety Net Programme. These were programmes designed to help the poverty-stricken and the vulnerable in our society that the current administration has laudably embraced.
But the pertinent question is: How effective is this agency in the discharge of its salient responsibilities? This question becomes pertinent in view of the fact that the agency and its parent ministry’s journey so far has been fraught with avoidable sleaze.
For instance, Sadiya Umar Farouq, former Minister of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development under the late Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, was accused of allegedly laundering about N37.1 billion and was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
At the inception of the Tinubu administration, Betta Edu, the ministry’s minister at that time, was suspended following a December 2023 memo directing the transfer of N585 million of public intervention funds to a private bank account. Some time ago as well, Halima Shehu, the NSIPA Chief Executive Officer, was queried and suspended over an alleged suspicious movement of funds running into billions of naira.
The ministry and its agency have become conduits for fleecing the country of resources meant to guarantee its social security and stability. The ministry/NSIPA that was created to bring succour to Nigerians has become a cesspit of corruption feasted upon by public office holders/politicians to the detriment of the hoi polloi in our society. The people only hear about billions set aside to palliate their hardships without having a bite of the cake.
The recurring rat race to steal from the public till is appallingly tormenting because of the insouciant official attitude to graft, culminating to a lack of conclusive consequences when caught in the act. The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, once admonished Nigerian leaders and public officials to always remember that “any wealth accumulated on a selfish basis, at the expense of the state in defiance of social justice, helps to create a disorganised society in which everybody will eat everybody, and no one can be safe.”
These immortal words of the sage aptly capture the situation in the country, as rabid greed has left us in a quandary of insecurity, economic turmoil and avoidable misery. Such words of wisdom mean nothing to the recycling set of opportunistic public officials in their untamed rabid pursuit of unexplained wealth.
The creation of the humanitarian ministry and NSIPA is lofty; only the appointed executors of its mandate are questionable. Moving forward, the President needs to ensure that only people with character, integrity and a reasonable disposition for selfless service are assigned to man such strategic institutions that have direct impact on the well being of the masses—not sentiment, henceforth. The positions in the humanitarian ministry/NSIPA of his government demand such considerations to achieve an effective social safety net.
At the Nigerian Bar Association National Conference that held on August 27, 2023 in Abuja, President Tinubu, who attended the opening ceremony publicly declared: “Poverty is not shameful, but it is not acceptable. We must banish it.” If indeed we truly desire to banish poverty, it is important that provisions for the poor, vulnerable and other struggling Nigerians are not routinely stolen or mismanaged by the greedy, filthy rich, and highly connected but contentment-lacking elements in government.
The President needs a personal touch and panoramic attention to ensure that his administration’s recently unveiled $3.05 billion World Bank-supported package of humanitarian programmes for creating economic opportunities, alleviating the poverty of the vulnerable and struggling Nigerians is well administered.
Already, the people are sceptical that the benefits may never get to them. This is why the recurring economic hardship, unabated societal decay, and unabashed exploitation need to be stopped.
•Sanusi, former MD/CEO of Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, is currently Managing Partner at AMS RELIABLE SOLICITORS. (WhatsApp only: 07011117777).