World Bank: 100 Million Nigerians Are Destitutes, 63% Living Under $1.25 a Day!

Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria,  in Enugu said  at the bank’s Country Programme Portfolio Review  that 100 million Nigerians live in destitution and abject poverty.

Her words, “1.2 billion people live in destitution out of which 100 million are Nigerians. Inequality is rising in many developing nations.

• BBC: Nigerians living in poverty rise to nearly 61%
• Bloomberg: Nigeria’s Poverty Ratio Rises to 70% of Population, Trust Says

“For this reason, the World Bank’s corporate perspective has shifted more strategically in the past year. The World Bank wants to galvanise international and national support around two goals: to end extreme poverty in a generation and to push for greater equality.

“To end extreme poverty, the World Bank Group’s goal is to decrease the percentage of people living on less than $1.25 a day from 20 per cent today to three per cent by 2030.

Children are the worst victims of poverty

“The goal is to promote income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population in each country. In Nigeria, 63 per cent of the population live on less than $1.25 a day.”

• See map: Poverty headcount ratio at $1.25 a day (PPP) (% of population)

Marie-Nelly said the yearly Country Programme Portfolio Review, was necessary to measure the progress of World Bank’s project  undertakings in Nigeria.