Under Buhari, Nigeria Overtakes India As Country With Poorest Citizens

Under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch, Nigeria has been rated as the country with the highest number of extremely poor citizens.

India, which had occupied the number one spot for a while, has been overtaken by Nigeria, according to Brookings Institution’s latest report.

THE WHISTLER recalls that in his 2018 Democracy Day speech, President Buhari claimed that his administration has invested heavily in the Agriculture, Transport and Manufacturing sectors which “have yielded significant prospects for investments and Job creation to the tune of US$ 22.5 billion.”

But according to Brookings Institution, Nigeria, which has a population of about 200 million, has now overtaken India which has a population of 1.324 billion, as the country with poorest citizens.

The report says, “According to our projections, Nigeria has already overtaken India as the country with the largest number of extreme poor in early 2018, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo could soon take over the number 2 spot.

“At the end of May 2018, our trajectories suggest that Nigeria had about 87 million people in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million. What is more, extreme poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in India continues to fall.

“In fact, by the end of 2018 in Africa as a whole, there will probably be about 3.2 million more people living in extreme poverty than there is today.

“Africans account for about two-thirds of the world’s extremely poor and that If current trends persist, Africa will account for nine-tenths by 2030.

“Fourteen out of 18 countries in the world—where the number of extreme poor is rising—are in Africa.”

THE WHISTLER further recalls that Microsoft founder and Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, had during his recent visit to Nigeria criticized the Buhari administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), describing as non-people friendly.