POLITICS OF POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in three sub-headings:

• Conceptual Framework
• Theoretical Framework

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Concept of Poverty

Poverty like any other concept in social science discipline lack precise and universally accepted definition. The nature and 'degree of poverty, its comprehension differs from one society to another. Ezeanyika (2004) defined poverty as the absence or lack of basic entitlements which could be economic, political or socio-cultural in nature. A critical analysis of this definition indicates that poverty emerges as a result of lack of financial, human and physical necessities capable of creating suitable environment for sustainable living standard. Chambers (1995) saw poverty as a subset of the general condition of deprivation whose dimension include: social inferiority, isolation, physical weakness, vulnerability, powerlessness and humiliation. World Bank Development Report (1992) described poverty as the inability to attain a minimum standard of living. World Bank (1999) report aptly defined poverty as a state where an individual is not able to cater adequately for his/her basic needs of food, clothing and shelters; he or she is unable to meet social and economic obligations; lacks gainful employment, skills, assets and self-esteem; has limited access to social and economic infrastructure such as education, health, portable water and sanitation; and consequently has limited chance of advancing his/her welfare to the limit of his/her capacities. In the words of Eminue (2005) and Landis (1980) Poverty is a state where an individual is not able to cater adequately for his or her basic need of food, clothing and shelter, is unable to meet social and economic obligation; lacks gainful employment, skills, assets and self esteem; and has limited access to social and economic infrastructure such as education, health , potable water and sanitation; and consequently, has limited chance of advancing his/her welfare to the limit of his/her capacities. Corroborating the above, Ravillion and Chon (2004) see poverty as lack of command over basic consumption leading to insufficient food, clothing and shelter. It could be this that made Dike (2002) to conceptualize poverty as existing when the resources of families or individuals are inadequate to provide a socially acceptable standard of living. Contemporaneously, poverty can safely be looked upon as a situation of people living below a specific minimum level of “income”, and in imaginary poverty line that recognizes neither national boundaries nor levels of national per capital income (Nkwede, 2011 and Todaro, 1992).Obadan (1996) poverty refers to lack of physical necessities, assets and income; a condition which results in deprivation, social inferiority, isolation, physical wideness, vulnerability, powerlessness and humiliation. According to Obi et al (2008:170) poverty is a reflection of some glaring defects in a state and its economy which normally manifest in the form of mass penury, mass unemployment, poor welfare services, lack of basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter, social inferiority, disempowerment, deprivation, isolation, humiliation, vulnerability to ill-health, drought, economic decline, crime and other societal conflicts. In Nigeria, the vulnerability to poverty and its indices are mostly found in the rural areas and marginal urban zones where basic infrastructural facilities are lacking. In the same vein, the poor are gripped with depression, degradation, deprivation, insecurity, poor savings ability, poor dietary, shelter and haggard clothing and use of crude farm implements in their farm works. Apart from these, they are vulnerable to disaster, ill-treatment by the institutions of the state. They are rather powerless to influence public decisions affecting their lives.

Poverty Reduction

Poverty reduction and poverty alleviation will be used interchangeably in this paper. Poverty reduction is generally considered to be a means through which an individual, community or country is relieved of the hardships resulting from poverty and provide basic necessities of life for good living/higher standard of living. Poverty alleviation is designed to tackle the institutional web of poor masses in the society. African Development Bank (1998) posits that poverty alleviation can only be realized through sustained and broad-based economic growth complemented by efficient provision of social services such as education, health-care, clean water, sanitation and nutrition. Therefore, to reduce poverty means to improve and sustain the economic, social growth of the masses so as to enhance their living standard for national development.

Indices of Poverty

• Low Consumption of Income Level:

An individual, Community or a country is considered to be poor if the consumption of income level falls below some minimum level needed to meet the basic needs of life. Minimum level is otherwise referred to as poverty line. Poverty line vary in time, place and from country to country. 

• Low-life Expectancy:

Certain countries of the world especially those of Africa lack basic necessities that are expected of worthy living here on earth. Low life expectancy manifest in the form of massive illiteracy, parity in purchasing power., low Gross Domestic Product per capital, unemployment, hunger, disease, malnutrition, infant mortality. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report (1997) ranked Nigeria to occupy the position of 146 out of 174 identified as poor countries. This is an indication that poverty is very high in the country. 

• Lack of Basic essential Human Capabilities:

Poverty ridden society is usually affected by lack of basic essential human capabilities which are needed to rise from the position of poverty to a sustained human development.

Causes of Poverty in Nigeria

Poverty worldwide is an evil wind that blows no one any good. But then, does poverty occur naturally without any cause? This paper tries to identify certain factors that cause poverty in our contemporary societies. By and large, what cause poverty in Nigeria varies and are complex to explain. Jones (1986) did observe that the causes of poverty in any nation are associated more with the socio-political and economic settings of such a nation and not necessarily with the people. Obi, Nwachukwu and Obiora (2008), Burkey (1993) and Eneh (2011) enumerated causes of poverty, especially in Nigeria to include: low productivity, market imperfections, environmental degradation, lack of modernization tendencies, physical limitations, bureaucratic stiffing, dependency of third world countries, income inequalities, laziness, illiteracy, increased population, hunger, lack of industry, exploitation, lack of initiative, low productivity, lack of skills, economic underdevelopment, non implementation of policies and programmes, corruption, political instability, social conflict, weak governance, mismanagement, unemployment and ignorance. A cursory look at the factors above, reveals that some are exogenously caused while others like illiteracy and laziness are endogenously oriented. The only factor that has speedily oiled and fuelled poverty is distribution of income. The distortion of income is not a problem among the poor but among the population (Bellow, Shehu and Madu, 2011). Essentially, Adawo (2010) argued that distribution of income could be viewed from two perspectives viz; the fiscal distribution of income and provision of both social and economic infrastructure. Imperatively, in Nigeria, the practice of relative wage income hypothesis, where jobs are evaluated on the basis of job content and wages are paid accordingly is largely not applicable, rather government incomes at all levels are shared among politicians, political cohorts and dubious contractors (Edoh, 2003). Paradoxically, the fact that infrastructures (good road network, health facilities, electricity and potable water) are not provided endemically spreads poverty (Barnes, 2010). Looking at the African settings, Joseph (2006) pointed out that what contribute to poverty include: family size, low level of human capital, inaccessibility to cultivable land, lack of all weather roads, poor access to market and slow endowment of human capital. Other causes of poverty in Nigeria include: Poor health status of citizens, family structure (Polygamy) ignorance, economic crisis, culture and social values (Nkwede, 2010).

Nigeria And Various Policies And Programmes On Poverty Reduction

Nigerian as a nation since independence has been ravaged by poverty, but successive military and civil administrations have at various times initiated one policy/programme or the other to alleviate or reduce poverty among the citizens. This all important goal of poverty alleviation of the Nigerian government has over the years proved difficult as a result of certain factors such as: rapid population growth, slow economic growth, corruption, and mismanagement of resources, maladministration and poor policy implementation. Eminue (2005) argues that poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria are categorized into two types namely: (A) Core poverty Alleviation programmes which aim at increasing access of the poor to micro-credit facilities and employment opportunities. Examples (i) Better life for Rural women (BLRW) (ii) Family support programme (FSP) (iii) Family economic Advancement programme (FEAP) (iv) National Directorate of Employment (NDE) (v) The People's Bank of Nigeria (vi) National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) (B) Programme with Mandate for poverty Alleviation which are non-targeted programmes designed to provide various services for the purposes of enhancing productivity, income and welfare of the poorest segment of the society. Examples include: (i) Green Revolution (ii) Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) (iii) Directorate for Food. Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRR1) (iv) Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Former Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) (v) Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF) (vi) Education Trust Fund (ETF) (vii) River Basin Development Authorities (viii) Community Banks (Now micro Finance Banks) (ix) Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) (x) Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Banks (xi) National Programme on Immunization (NP1) (xii) Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) (xiii) Nomadic Education Programme (xiv) Adult Non-formal Education Programme (xv) Programmes for the Disabled and Disadvantaged Groups. All these programmes were designed by the government of Nigeria at various times for alleviation of poverty, yet the evidence of poverty in the country has remained very high and unchecked too. The implication of persistence of incidence of poverty is that it has defiled all alleviation policy options marshaled by the successive government of this country. Therefore, the present and future government of the country is faced with the difficult challenge of re-designing or modifying policies and programmes to fight poverty in all ramifications for sustainable socio-economic growth and development. The source of concerned is the astronomical increase of poverty rate in Nigeria. Between 1980 to 1996, poverty rate has risen from 27% to 66%. By 1999, over 70% of Nigerians lived in poverty with mere life expectancy of 54years, infant mortality at 77 per 1,000 births and maternal mortality at 704 per 100.000 live births. According to National Planning Commission (2004), other social indicators of poverty in Nigeria include:

1. Rural house hold spends an average of 1.5 hours a day and walk for an average of one kilometer a day to collect water and fire wood. (ii) More than 90% of the rural population depends on forests for their livelihood and domestic energy sources.
2. Only about 10% of the population has access to essential drugs. (iv) Over five million adults out of 140 million Nigerian populations are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS

(v) Among Nigerian children of five years of age, almost 30% of them are underweight.

(vi) Only about half of the population has access to safe drinking water. (40% in rural areas, 80% in urban areas)

(vii) About 29% of the total population lives at risk from annual floods.

(viii) Only 17% of the children are fully immunized and almost 40% has never been vaccinated.

(ix) There are fewer than 30 physicians per 100,000 people (Nkwede, 2011).

Ebonyi State And Level Of Poverty

Ebonyi State is one of the thirty six (36) States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The state was carved out of old Enugu and Abia States on lsl October, 1996 under the military administration of Late Gen. Sanni Abacha. Poverty in Ebonyi State at its creation was so pervasive that it was classified as the most poor state among the South East Zone. The federal office of statistics record shows that 52.6% of Ebonyi people are poor and that signs for social sectors development are not favourable, particularly for the poor. Even at present, evidence of poverty is still very high, despite the huge human potentials and natural resources endowed to the state (Nkwede, 2011). In Ebonyi State, basic infrastructural facilities such as roads, health services, education, water supply, electricity, housing etc are lacking in most communities and where such amenities exist, they have virtually collapsed. Other signs of poverty among Ebonyians manifests in the malnourishment of vulnerable group (children and women), acute unemployment, child labour, hawking among the youth from rural areas where approximately seventy percent (70%) of the population are living. The United Nations Development programme UNDP Human Development Report (2002) for Enugu/Ebonyi, revealed that Ebonyi ranked very low on the human Development index (HDI) using a combined measurement of longevity (Physical Health), knowledge (Education) and income (Purchasing Power). According to the report, low life expectancy for males is estimated to be below 59.2 years and that of the females is 60.7 years. Mortality rate for children under five (5) years is 191 per 1000 life. One third 1/3 of the state's population resides in rural setting without safe water and good sanitation. Sources of drinking water are often from shallow and open wells, contaminated water from rivers and ponds. A good number of Ebonyi people are still illiterate and social amenities are lacking and industries are non existent. For instance, Ebonyi is one of the states in Nigeria without 132 KVA electric transformers needed for rapid industrialization. The health sector in Ebonyi State is not measuring up in any way. Hospitals are not adequate and where there arc found, they are not properly equipped or without medical personnels such as doctors, nurses and hospital attendants. Resurgence of preventable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases (STD), HIV/AIDS, Guinea worm, diabetes mellitus etc are still very high. In the area of education, although the state government introduced free and compulsory primary and secondary education, Ebonyi is still rated as educationally disadvantaged state in Nigeria. Ebonyi indigenes of school ages are still found in large numbers hawking, child labouring in many cities all over the country. Again, despite state government declaration of free and compulsory education, teaching and learning are still inadequate. Classroom blocks constructed by the missionaries and Nigerian government before and after the civil war are still in a state of dilapidation with blown off roofs and children are left to study under tree shades. Where buildings are found, the classrooms are not usually equipped with desks, even teachers teach without tables and chairs. In Ebonyi State, road network is still very poor especially in the rural areas where over 70% of state populations who are predominantly farmers are residing. Poor road network in Ebonyi State has serious effects on evacuation of farm products and movement of people to and from the rural areas. In all, the above situation clearly shows that Ebonyi State is one of the poorest states in Nigeria. Poverty, hunger, diseases, malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment, lack of basic social amenities are still on the high side in the State. It was on this note that the Federal Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission selected Ebonyi State as one of the six(6) pilot states in Nigeria for Community Based poverty Reduction project (CPRP).

The Ebonyi State Community Based Poverty Reduction Agency (Ebcpra).

The Ebonyi State Community Based Poverty Reduction Agency (EBCPRA) was set up on 23rd August. 2005 as an autonomous body charged with the task of reducing poverty in the state. EB-CPRA was established to function without undue interference or bureaucracy and with the mandate to improve on the socio-economic conditions of Ebonyi people, particularly the rural populace. The agency was to ensure that the rural population gets a fair share of at least 80% of government funding of micro projects. By the design of the agency, communities should identify projects while EB-CPRA would select from the proposed projects by the benefiting communities through registered Community Development Associations. The Community Development Unions are usually composed of selected representatives to include the chairman, secretary, women representative (usually the treasurer), youth leader and the disabled as the case warrants. EB-CPRA has its headquarters located at Abakaliki and unit offices at the Community Development Departments in the thirteen (13) local Government Areas of the state and other relevant line ministries.

Functions Of Eb-Cpra

1. To support policies and utilize effective strategies for effective implementation of projects in the benefiting communities for poverty reduction in Ebonyi State,
2. To disburse funds provided by donor agencies in support of poverty reduction in the state.
3. To appraise applications/projects received from beneficiary communities against eligibility criteria as spelt out in the operations manual so as to determine whether those projects need support, rejection or deferment,
4. To carry out public enlightment, advocacy, awareness and mobilization of communities toward poverty reduction,
5. To render advisory services and technical assistance to communities, non-governmental organizations and community Based organizations on project designs, planning and management,
6. To carryout institutional and social needs assessment surveys, training, studies, evaluation and capacity building programme directed at improving the effectiveness and the impact of poverty reduction strategies in benefiting communities,
7. To supervise and monitor the implementation of poverty reduction projects in benefiting communities in liaison with the local government, NGOs and community Based organizations,
8. To Liaise with the relevant ministries, local governments, donor agencies, research institutions and CBOs in the implementation of poverty reduction projects in the benefiting communities,
9. To ensure accountability, transparency and openness in all projects involving poverty reduction in the state,
10. To appraise, finance and supervise projects designed, sponsored and implemented by the benefiting communities,
11. To work in line with the poverty Reduction programmes of the federal government, donor agencies, foreign government and bodies for harmonization and to avoid duplication of efforts,

(xii) To Liaise with the National Planning Commission to ensure that Ebonyi state benefits from other poverty alleviation programmes of the federal government and international organizations

Ebonyi State Community Based Poverty Reduction Agency (Eb-Cpra) And Poverty Reduction In Ebonyi State

Sequel to its establishment and the mandate to fashion out strategies to reduce poverty in our rural communities, the Ebonyi State Community Based Poverty Reduction Agency through the use of community based approach had in the past embarked on a number of projects which have direct or indirect impacts on the socio-economic lives of the population of citizens living below poverty line in the state. The agency has been involved in the construction of many micro projects ranging from provision of health centers, classroom blocks, road/bridges, bore-hoies drilling, rural electrification, market stalls to civic/skill acquisition centers. In order to allow for full programme participation, the agency allows the benefiting communities to pay counterpart of just 10% of the cost of the project and to identify such projeet (s) by themselves. The agency physically monitored and supervised projects under their jurisdiction and evaluates their level of completion stage by stage. The agency's direct involvement and supervision of projects has led to completion of numerous projects on schedule and according to specifications

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Human Development Approach

Propounded in 1998. this approach emphasizes first and foremost, the restoration and rehabilitation of the psyche, mind, socio-psychology and being of the poor. It is not the development that is understood in terms of the introduction of advanced technology and complex organization, characteristic of market oriented capitalist production, in which the sources of initiative and development are external to the rural community.

EL-Serfy (1995-62) one of the major proponents of the human development approach to poverty eradication, argued that development should not be equated merely with economic growth because it is not an entirely economic phenomenon, rather it has always implied a systematic and rising prosperity, though it has been associated with social change. Among its manifestation are industrialization, efficiency improved, governance, egalitarian income and wealth distribution and often functioning institutions, the rule of law and the guaranties government of individuals liberties.

As a result, Pitterman, (1995:20) suggested that human capital should be understood not merely as a collection skills but more broadly as a totality of materials, knowledge and attitudes that takes the societal form of culture, deserves more attention as a determinant of the data of and indeed the capacity for modern development. The human development paradigm for poverty reduction is not oblivious of this position. The advocate of this approach to fighting poverty argues that the evolution and inculcation of good rules, skills and attitudes are impinhibitions of the debilitating impacts of poverty.

The relevance of the human development approach to the study is the reminder that the objectives of the development effort are to provide all human being with the opportunity for a full life. When human beings are developed physically and mentally, they are fit to earn a living and become indepent, fend for themselves and family, etc and as well reduced the rate of poverty in the state. All development efforts specifically poverty reduction programmes pursues this kind of development.

Political Economy

political economy approach as the theoretical framework. Political economy theory has its roots from the classical works of Marx and Engels (1962) who derived his -intellectual stands from the works of great economists such as Smith (1937), Pye (1966) and Mill (1970). Political economy theory is concerned with the distribution of social wealth, class relations and conflicts as well as their impacts on the development of the society from one stage to another. Political economy approach tries to explain the social relations existing among people in the society in all the processes of production, exchange and consumption of goods and services. Every society has a peculiar system of economic system anchored on property relations. Political economy approach gives credence to material conditions, particularly economic factors in all social lives. Without doubt,economic needs are the most fundamental needs of man, because he must eat before pursuing other things such as worship, culture, tourism, and other social things. Ake (2005:1-2) further posit that: Once we understand what the material assets and constraints of a society are, how the society produces goods to meet its material needs, how the goods are distributed and what type of social relations arise from the organization of production, we have come a long way to understanding the culture of that society; its laws, its religious system, its political system and even its modes of thought Political economy theory looks into the interconnection of phenomena, programmes and policies with the sole intention of discovering the class origin, character, composition and the logic of their existence and future. Thus, this approach is used in the analysis of problem of poverty in Nigeria, especially as the social relations emanating from productive forces create room for class differentiation in the society. While some categories of people in the society swim in affluence, others wallow in poverty.