The pandemic will drag 10m more Nigerians into poverty - Minister

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq has said that 10 million Nigerians will be drag below the poverty line as the country continues to feel the pinch of the coronavirus

Mrs. Farouq, who quoted statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said 82.9 million Nigerians were already living below the poverty line as at 2019.

It is believed that the figure might have increased due to economic hardship caused by the outbreak of Coronavirus.

The minister, who spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at the ministerial dialogue on the National Social Register, noted that 26.8 million poor and vulnerable individuals, which is equivalent to about 6.3 million households, have been captured, according to The Nations.

She said: “In 2019, the National Bureau of Statistics estimated that 40.2% (equivalent to 82.9 million) Nigerians live below the poverty line on less than one dollar ninety cents (US$1.9), and another 10 million were expected to fall below the poverty as a result of the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 by the end of the year.”

ADVERTISEMENTRead Also; Govt’s poverty reduction efforts won’t work, says ObiOn the number of people on the register, she said: “As of January 31, 2021, out of the estimated 82.9 million (40.2 per cent) Nigerians living below the poverty line, we have identified and registered 26.8 million poor and vulnerable individuals, equivalent to about 6.3 million households in our country.

“We are expecting another 20 million to be added to the database and held in the Rapid Response Register; a shock responsive intervention register, specifically targetted at urban informal workers impacted by the current COVID-19 pandemic.”

On the extent of coverage of the register, Farouq said: “The social register has coverage across the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT. We are in 601 local government areas (LGAs) out of the 774 LGAs in Nigeria.

“We have covered 7,320 wards and 72,363 communities. This structure automatically provides the biggest database for any social inclusion or social protection intervention.”

On what the register contains and how it is different from other forms of data-related registration exercise in the country, she said: “The data points in the social register capture personal information, such as names, age, gender, location (whether rural or urban, names of community, ward, local government and state), geo-coordinate, level of education, vocation, employment status, disability status, ID numbers, phone numbers and addresses.  “This type of information is essential to facilitate administration of benefits to eligible households, prevent fraud and allow contact tracing of households to process updates, resolve discrepancies or determine movement across socio-economic status.”

She added: “The information also allows tracking of coverage, data update, number and types of programmes served or benefitted. We also have information on community profiles gathered through community asset assessment such as social amenities available, infrastructure, accessibility; roads, electricity, schools, hospitals and banking information.

Present at the meeting physically and virtually were Minister of Women Affairs Pauline Tallen, Minister of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of State Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba and Minister of Youth and Sport Sunday Dare.