Is Nigeria’s poverty by choice?

I just read an interesting article in Nigerian Business Day newspaper, which states that Nigeria has many of its citizens living in poverty today because it has accepted its present situation rather than intensifying its efforts to lift its citizens out of poverty. [http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/editorial/24822-nigerias-poverty-is-a-choice]

Yes, I agree with the view that Nigeria’s poverty is by choice. We have the human and natural resources needed to lift millions out of poverty in Nigeria yet majority of Nigerians are poor. One of the major causes of poverty in Nigeria today is corruption. Public resources have been wasted or mismanaged. This has resulted in the inability of Nigeria to translate its oil revenues into achieving poverty reducing growth. In addition, the economy is not diversified and mostly depends on oil for its revenue which has only been beneficial to very few Nigerians. The new government has made the choice of transforming the country. It has promised to build a sustainable future for Nigerians. The government should seriously focus on tackling corruption which I identified in my first blog post (https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B2vNy3QoOvZbZGVjYTM3N2UtY2RhOC00YTIxLTgyYWMtY2IxNDNmNDA3ODBk&hl=en&authkey=COjgqKsD&pli=1) as having a perverse effect on four of the five binding constraints to Nigeria’s economic growth which are: Inadequate infrastructure, inadequate access to finance, shortage of skilled staff and high costs of inputs due to restrictive trade policies. It also needs to intensify its efforts in tackling the issue of insecurity which also poses a serious threat to Nigeria’s development. This would go a long way in helping Nigeria lift its citizens out of poverty. Nigeria has what it takes to tackle poverty; it just needs to make the right choices. 

Nigerian President reiterates his commitment to tackle corruption

[http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/i-won-t-shield-any-corrupt-official-says-jonathan/95118/]

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s return good for Nigeria

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was among the ministers confirmed yesterday by the Senate. I am thrilled by this development as Nigeria would greatly benefit from her relevant experience and skills. More importantly, I am pleased with her focus areas which include job creation, increasing the ease of doing business in Nigeria and infrastructural development.

[http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/july/07/national-07-07-2011-002.html]

I hope she will be allowed to implement these policies effectively which I believe will improve the economy and help move Nigeria forward.