The President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has decried the galloping number of Nigerians joining poverty bracket on a daily basis.
In his lead paper presented at the Executive Course No. 38, 2016 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, near Jos, Plateau State, the industrialists decried the fact that over 100 million Nigerians out of the estimated population of 187 million live below poverty line.
A statement made available on Sunday said in his paper titled: ‘Promotion of local manufacturing and poverty reduction in Nigeria: The private sector experience and policy options’, he said, “It is a curious paradox that Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, and the largest economy on the continent, also has one of the highest levels of poverty”.
“It is estimated that more than 100 million out of a population of 187 million Nigerians live below the poverty line.”
Relying on a United Nations report, Dangote said youth unemployment had risen to 42 per cent this year, with many graduates roaming the streets of major cities such as Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt in search of elusive white-collar jobs, while for some who were employed, their situation could best be described as under-employment, as they were being underutilised and poorly paid.
He said “The spate of kidnappings, intermittent vandalism of petroleum pipelines in the Niger Delta, and the protracted insurgency in the North-East are all fuelled, to a large extent, by the high level of endemic poverty in the country,” he stated.
He pointed out that the current economic recession had further worsened the situation, as the government continued to record dwindling revenues, thus making it increasingly difficult for it to fulfil some of its obligations to the people.
