Northern states spends N45 billion in six months to reduce poverty

By Florish Obanor

In the first half of 2024, at least 15 Northern states spent around N45 billion on various programs aimed at reducing poverty amid the nation’s escalating inflation wave.

Nigeria’s inflation rate increased from 32.70 percent in September to 33.88 percent in October 2024, according to a data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

The nation’s inflation rate was 29.90 percent in January, meaning that throughout the first ten months of the year, it had risen by 13 percent.

The majority of the northern states, which are said to have the greatest rates of poverty in the nation, are affected.Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Advisor, lamented the extreme poverty in Northern Nigeria, particularly in the North West, in April 2024.

He claimed that, as of 2019, the region has the highest poverty percentage in the nation, with a national average of 40.1%.

At Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto’s combined convocation talk, Ribadu gave a paper titled “Navigating the Maze: Addressing Multi-Dimensional Insecurity Challenges in Northern Nigeria,” identifying Sokoto as the most affected area in the region.

According to the poll, the North of Nigeria is home to 65% (86 million) of the country’s 63% (133 million) poor people.

Although it listed the percentage of multidimensionally poor people in other northern states as Jigawa (83.3), Zamfara (82.70), Yobe (81.70), Bauchi (81.30), Kebbi (79.10), Katsina (77.50), Gombe (77.40), Kano (68.80), Taraba (65.10), Borno (64.0), Niger (61.60), and Adamawa (59.90), it claimed that 91% of people in Sokoto State were impoverished.

According to an investigation, between January and June 2024, about 15 of the 19 Northern states spent N45,323,220,202 on various programs aimed at reducing poverty in the area.

The states are: Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, Gombe, Borno, Bauchi, Adamawa, Zamfara, Yobe, Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi, Kebbi, and Kaduna.

The numbers came from an examination of the state’s budget implementation reports, which were acquired via Open Nigerian States, a website supported by BudgIT that serves as a database for government budget information.
Over N325 billion in grants and help from international financial organizations were given to the states during that time.

Although almost 68.8% of Kano State’s population lived below the national poverty line, there was no evidence that the state spent any money on poverty reduction initiatives in the first half of the year, despite receiving N5.3 billion in financial aid.

Even though Zamfara State received N52.8 billion in grants during the time under review, the state, which has an 82% poverty rate, only spent N1.3 million on programs aimed at reducing poverty.

Despite receiving N53 billion in funding, Yobe State, which has a high poverty rate, spent N16 billion on programs aimed at reducing poverty.

For the other northern states, during the time under review, Plateau spent N3.6 billion, Niger N280 million, Nasarawa N94 million, Kwara N583 million, Kogi N14 billion, Kebbi N54 million, Katsina N16 million, Kaduna N13 million, Jigawa N6 billion, Gombe N1.8 billion, Borno N3.2 billion, Bauchi N850 million, and Adamawa N839 million to combat poverty in their states.