Literature
Recently, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, made a statement to the effect that the northern part of the country is in a state of serious poverty and requires urgent economic measures to stem the tide. Well-meaning as this comment may appear, however, some Northern ?patriots? see it as a mere fiction, an attempt to label and ridicule the region. But Shehu Sani?s new book, Poverty in Northern Nigeria, seems to substantiate Soludo?s position by providing detailed facts and figures that paint a gloomy picture of the economic realities of the region.
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Literature
Poverty in the North: Fact or fiction?
Recently, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, made a statement to the effect that the northern part of the country is in a state of serious poverty and requires urgent economic measures to stem the tide. Well-meaning as this comment may appear, however, some Northern ?patriots? see it as a mere fiction, an attempt to label and ridicule the region. But Shehu Sani?s new book, Poverty in Northern Nigeria, seems to substantiate Soludo?s position by providing detailed facts and figures that paint a gloomy picture of the economic realities of the region.
In his characteristic manner, the author adopts an academic approach that seeks to provide critical, interpretative perspective and insight into poverty as a global phenomenon, with particular reference to the Northern Nigeria. The 96-page book of seven chapters deals with issues ranging from the concept and dimension of poverty, causes of poverty, weaknesses in poverty alleviation strategies in Northern Nigeria and recommendations on the viable way out.
The author begins by acknowledging the fact that there is no part of the world that could claim complete immunity against penury and privation. Quoting the 2001 Human Development Report (HDR) by the United Nations Development Programme, he observes that one third of the world?s population live in chronic poverty. And majority of this population is from developing countries. According to the 1991 HDR as cited by the author, there are over 1.2 billion poor people in the third world countries and the figure is expected to rise to 1.5 billion by the year 2025.
Zeroing his searchlight on Nigeria, the author cited the 1998 HDR, which describes the country as a "rich nation with poor population", and the poorest among Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. In the particular case of the Northern part of the country, the author, based on available statistics, asserts that as much as 76 per cent of Northerners are living in poverty, "earning an income of less than the equivalent of one American dollar". (page 3). To support this claim, 8 pages (49-56) are devoted to tabular presentations of the statistical data derived from a survey on poverty in the region. All the 21 tables showing poverty distribution among sexes, ages, etc. against variables such as occupation, educational status, number of children per family and so on portray a very dismal present and predict a miserable future.
Having established the facts on the magnitude of the problem with the information sourced from case records, surveys, transcript interviews and direct personal observations, the author makes a critical analysis of the situation based on theoretical frameworks that define the causes of poverty and possible solutions.
The book provides abundant theoretical explanations for the persistence of poverty in the North. The theories include individualistic theory, ecology theory and political economy theory. The individualistic theory places the blame for poverty on the poor individuals themselves, postulating that their condition is as a result of laziness, while the ecology theory explains poverty in terms of environmental factors such as desertification. The political economy theorists, on the other hand, argue that poverty arises from certain political, economic and social structures that have been imposed on the people.
The author observes that apart from these major causes of poverty, the situation is compounded in Northern Nigeria by bad leadership. The leadership, according to him, manipulates the state machinery to serve their selfish interests and at the detriment of the masses. He enumerates the many failures of the leadership, including "failure to make a clear separation between what is public and what is private, hence the tendency to divert public resources for private gains". (Page 48). He also blames the leadership for its failure to provide workable institutional frameworks that would check the widening gap between the rich and the poor. He stresses that the poverty alleviation strategies in Northern states have failed because they were in the first place not meant to success; they are not focused on outcomes that will benefit the poor.
The author then suggests various ways in which the strategies could be made viable and result-oriented. According to him, poverty alleviation programmes should be community-driven, involving the community right from the conception to the implementation. He also calls for pro-poor policies that provide broad-based access to resources and human capital development. These are viable suggestions indeed.
One cannot but acknowledge the fact that Poverty in Northern Nigeria is a researcher?s delight and an invaluable guide for policy makers. Like his other books, such as Scorpions Under Pillow: Terrorism in Africa and Political Assassinations in Nigeria, the strength of this book lies in its detailed facts and figures. Every claim is backed up with relevant statistics, portraying the subject-matter as real fact rather than fiction.
However, the author should have taken a step further by equally making available relevant data on the poverty situations in other parts of the country. Such effort would have clearly shown the difference between the North and the South in terms of poverty level and justify his preference for highlighting poverty in the North rather than the entire country.
(c) By Sumaila Isah Umaisha.
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