Experts attack Nigeria’s poverty alleviation programmes

Experts have criticized the poverty alleviation programmes and strategies by Nigerian governments, saying China has shown that it can be done.

China’s State Council last week released a white paper on the successful end to extreme poverty in the country and the march towards a moderately prosperous society.

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The white paper titled “China’s Epic Journey from Poverty to Prosperity”, noted that the realization of a moderately prosperous society in all respects marks a critical step towards national rejuvenation for the 1.4 billion peopled country.

In a statement on the feat, the executive director of the Centre for China Studies, Charles Onunaiju said the effort has produced new thoughts and inspiration on poverty alleviation which Africa, “where poverty is launching itself with terrific aggression” should learn and move beyond lip service.

 “This is not just taking them out of poverty, but China has provided the largest social security, social insurance for everybody, both rural and urban residents,” he said.

“Poverty is arrested national assets. We must take concrete measures by building capacity and latent wealth creation, not paying lip service.”

Also speaking, professor of Political Science at the University of Abuja, Prof Yusuf Zoaka identified handout syndrome where the poor receive the conditional transfer without work as a wrong approach to poverty alleviation in a backward society like Nigeria.

He said agencies like the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and others should allocate real funds to small industries with potential for value additions to products, which would be sustainable.