Big trouble, as more Nigerians sink deeper into poverty

Nigeria’s misery index is set for a spike, with more than three million people joining the population of poor Nigerians, at the backdrop of the projected contraction of the economy as measured by the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and the population growth rate. The Federal Government had projected that the economy (GDP) will contract by  4.4 per cent GDP by end of 2020, down from growth of  2.27 per cent in 2019, due mainly to fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand the population is set to grow by 3.5 per cent, reaching about 218.3 million at year-end, though some socio-economic analysts told Vanguard this is a conservative estimate. The decline in GDP growth rate may result in loss of about N3.1 trillion to the population’s purchasing power which will equally bring down the per capita GDP to about N312,697, about eight perc ent drop from the 2019 figure of N337,550. READ ALSOISWAP fighters kill six Nigerian troops ― Sources Consequently, the declines would precipitate increase in the nation’s poverty index, with the number of citizens below poverty line growing to 89.5 million by year end from 86.71 million last year, based on the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, NBS, 40.1 per cent poverty rate for the country. Many analysts have given background and perspectives to the growth imbalance in the GDP per capita. Gloomy days ahead Against the emerging trend in population-to-GDP ratio, economists and industry analysts are worried that the trend portends grave socio-economic danger for Nigeria. Dr. Adebayo Adedokun, Trade, Finance and Development Expert, Department of Economics, University of Lagos, said the implication of the widening negative gap between population growth rate and the GDP is that standard of living of the populace will decline faster in the years ahead.