Poverty in Nigeria - the most populous country in Africa

[Kofi]

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with Lagos and Abuja the capital being the most populous cities in Africa. The poverty in Nigeria can be attributed to the population growth of Nigeria. There were just a few slums in Lagos about twenty years ago but there are slums everywhere now in Lagos and Abuja. Unlike Ghana, more than 50% of the Nigerian working class are into the white collar jobs and since there are no jobs these days, most of these so called graduates, end of on the streets looking for jobs all day long without the hope of ever getting one. Crime rate in the Nigeria is the worst in the whole of Africa and this is due to the fact that there are no jobs for the youth and the only way of survival for some of these people is the use of guns to rob and kill people for money. what do you think? what are some of the causes of poverty in Nigeria?

[William]

I do believe that some of the causes of poverty in Nigeria are the lack of education and work. However, more importantly I see a huge lack of medical knowledge, and or welfare. These 3 are very critical items and hopefully will be tended to quickly so that Nigeria can resume to how it once was, and soon.

[DaughterUK]

I believe that a partial solution to this problem would be better education around the subject of birth control. No parent will want to bring a child into the world that he or she cannot afford to feed and clothe. This being said, it will not solve the immediate problem of there not being enough jobs to go around, which can and will force people to commit criminal offences for money.

What the Nigerian government should be doing is finding ways to make it easier for any wealthier Nigerians to set up businesses, and even creating incentives to set up business (perhaps in terms of not levying taxes on any business performing below a certain profit margin, or tax breaks for hiring a certain quantity of people). If businesses are set up, people get hired, and if people get hired they can afford to buy products that other companies are making. This would create an industrial and consumer based economy with potential for the healthy growth of that economy, this would mean that there would be the potential prosperity even for the relitively uneducated.

Certain types of crime would fall as a result of the above actions. Offences like muggings, looting, robbery and kidnap for ransom would be reduced dramatically, as I have no doubt that such offences are comitted by desperate people trying to feed and house their families. I don't think that many people would consider robbery a career choice when given the option of making an honest living. All that the Nigerian government has to do is take steps to ensure that crime is not the only way that it's citizens can obtain a decent standard of living.

The issue of poverty in Nigeria is as a result of bad governance through nepotism and corruption among the ruling class, because the country is blessed with a lot of opportunities to be great especially during the times when oil market is booming,however all these chances went down the drain.Take example of a political party that been ruling the country from1999 to date with favourable foreign reserves to develop the economy by providing reliable energy and boosting agriculture to serve the populace from abject poverty but mess the entire national fortunes to wastage and mismanagement.The is nothing to say about education, health and security,act of lawlessness and unpatriotic leaders have ruin the country in and out. We are living in a country as if we are not humans. This bedeviling issues can only be solve through mass revolt to chase out this bad rulers without consideration to ethnicity and religion.