POVERTY AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF KWALI, ABUJA)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
It is unfortunate that despite the natural and human resources that Nigeria is blessed it, she is one of these countries. Poverty is a critical problem of our time, which along with environmental threats, weighs heavily on our planet and the future of humanity. It has assumed unprecedented and unacceptable proportion in Nigeria, manifesting not only in abysmal decline in economic indicators and trends, but more glaringly and tragically in the suering, hardship and general impoverishment of the vast majority of the people. The average Nigerian is far worse than he was over 50 years ago when the country achieved political independence. The prevalence of poverty and misery in Nigeria is however, a paradox. Nigeria should, by no means be a poor nation. Apart from being an oil-producing nation, Nigeria is endowed with other natural and human resources which are enough to put her on a solid path to economic development and advancement. But Nigeria still wallows in abject poverty despite her stupendous wealth. Deep concerns have been expressed about the sustainability of the democratic process in Nigeria, as poverty-induced agitation and violent conflicts spread across the country. Stakeholders in the Nigerian democratic enterprise appear to be at crossroads on what to do to alleviate poverty, which is generally regarded as the greatest threat to the nascent democratic process in the country. Large segments of the population are demanding the dividends of democracy as the incidence of poverty continually grows throughout the nation. Geo- political zones are crying out against impoverishment, deprivation and marginalization. Countless ethno-cultural associations and pressure groups are being formed to articulate interests for a better share of the national cake, even when such interests threaten the very
basis of democracy in the country. It is a fact that the rising incidence of poverty in Nigeria poses a serious threat to the democratization process. The concern of this paper therefore is to highlight the challenges posed by poverty to democracy in Nigeria. Conceptual definitions of poverty and democracy are presented, the causes of poverty and the implication of poverty for democracy is also examined, while suggestions for reducing the incidence of poverty across the country are also put forward.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with over 153million people (FGN, 2006). It is home to one-sixth of the world’s black population (Chukwuemeka, 2009:405). A country naturally abundantly bless with human and natural resources. As at 2004 the International Monetary Fund reported that the country has an estimated crude oil reserve of 24 billion barrels (See USAID, 2007:1), with over N 29.8 trillion in revenue from sake of cruse oil only (Tell,2008). Paradoxically, over 70% of its population lives in abject poverty (Sanusi, 2011). It is classified by UNDP as 141 poorest nations on the Human Development
Index. Poverty in Nigeria from all empirically verifiable fact is a deliberate creation of the Nigeria’s political class; it acts as a clog in the wheel of the country movement to a true, people’s democracy. Thus state poverty in Nigeria is compounded by the widening class polarization politically and economically, where over “95% of the country wealth is controlled by about 0.01 percent of population” (Oshewolo 2010:267). Transition to the Nigeria’s current democratic dispensation referred to as the Fourth Republic began in 1998. This transition to what could properly be described as civil rule evoked and was facilitated by
the massive mobilization of “the rich” and “the poor.
