110 million Nigerians are poor, says Osinbajo

Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said there are 110 million poor Nigerians.

He added that some past polices and planning, including budgeting, did not reflect the needs and conditions of the people, who have become disempowered.

He spoke while receiving the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), in Abuja.

Expressing concern about extreme poverty in the country, Osinbajo said two third of the population had become disempowered following the policy formulation in the past.

“When you look at the economic and social policies, and you look at the level of illiteracy, some are extremely bad and some with cases of about 80 or 90 per cent of children out of school, and other cases of unimaginable decayed infrastructure,” he said.

Stressing that policies should address the needs of the people, he said the main challenge now is how to make this possible.

“Governments have not been accountable to the people, otherwise policies should have roots in the real condition of the people.”

The Vice President challenged the notion that a country could be described as rich when about two-thirds of its people were extremely poor.

He said one of the challenges of policy formulation is how to speak to the people and address their plight, adding that the people were concerned about “how do I get a meal, how do I get health care and how to send children to school.”

Vice President Osinbajo urged the Alumni Association to discuss how policy formulation ought to take root in the conditions of the people.

Speaking earlier, President of the association, Major-General Lawrence Onoja, appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to fight corruption and reposition the economy.

He pledged the support of the Association for the actualization of what he called the Three-Point Agenda – Security, Corruption and Economy of the Buhari Administration.

Onoja urged the Administration not to only conduct a forensic audit of the government agencies but should jail all those found guilty of looting the country and seize the looted assets as well.