The Federal Government has blamed the country’s high poverty rate on state governments’ failure to contribute their quota of development responsibilities to the grassroots, where the majority of production activities take place.
Clement Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning stated this to State House Correspondents following the week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
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Agba was responding to a question about what he and his colleague, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, were doing to alleviate the severe hardship that the majority of Nigerians are currently experiencing.
The Minister, in an attempt to dispel the notion that rising levels of hunger and poverty were unique to Nigeria, explained that the Federal Government, through many of its social security programs, has been devoting resources to alleviating public hardship.
But noted that state governments, which have consistently received their share of national resources, had been misdirecting the resources to projects that have almost no direct effect on the needs of the people.
He stated that 72 per cent of poverty in Nigeria is found in rural areas, which he claims governors have abandoned, adding that state executives prefer to function in state capitals.
He lamented that state governors are focusing on projects that are visible in the state capitals rather than investing in areas that directly improve the standard of living of people in rural areas.
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Agba pointed out that while states control agricultural land, they do not invest in it to achieve the desired effect on their rural citizens.
He advised Governors that instead of focusing on the construction of skyscrapers, flyovers, and bridges, they should focus on initiatives that can lift the majority of people out of poverty.
