Former U.S. President, Bill Clinton on Monday warned that the widespread poverty in the Nigeria is responsible for the violence that is tearing the nation apart.
Speaking at the annual ThisDay Awards in Lagos, Mr Clinton decried the widening gap between the rich and poor in Nigeria. He said “you (Nigeria) can’t just have this level of inequality persist. That’s what’s fuelling all this stuff (violence)”.
The former US President further expressed concern about the security challenge currently facing the country, stating that he is “really worried” about it.
He warned against the use of violence to address the security issue saying that “it is almost impossible to cure a problem based on violence with” violence.” “You also have to give people something to look forward to when they get up in the morning” he added.
He however acknowledged that the use of military or police force when dealing with the instability cannot be ruled out. The former US President was at the event with Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, amidst heavily armed soldiers and police officers at the venue.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in the 2010 poverty profile report, released earlier on Monday in Abuja, revealed that the number of people living below the poverty line has risen to a staggering 112.519 million of the nation’s 160million people.
According to the 26 page report, the North-West and North-East regions recorded the highest poverty rates in 2010 with 77.7 per cent and 76.3 per cent respectively whilst the South-West geo-political zone, recorded the lowest at 59.1 per cent.
Among the 36 states of the federation, the report stated that Sokoto state had the highest poverty rate at 86.4 per cent, while Niger state had the lowest at 43.6 per cent.
Affirming the drastic increase in the nation’s poverty rate despite annual growth of the economy, the Statistician-general of NBS, Yemi Kale, noted “in 2004, Nigeria’s relative poverty measurement stood at 54.4 per cent but increased to 69 per cent or 112.518 million Nigerians in 2010.”
“It remains a paradox, however, that despite the fact that the Nigerian economy is growing, the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty is increasing every year” he said.
