Poverty and the millennium development goals in Nigeria: The Nexus

Abstract

This paper made a broad overview of the poverty situation in Nigeria. The various efforts of Government of Nigeria to stamp out poverty were examined. Some of such efforts include poverty eradication and poverty alleviation programmes (PAP and PEP), micro credit schemes and employment programmes. Descriptive research method was adopted and content analysis technique was essentially used for the study. Some of the findings indicate that the poverty level is still very high in Nigeria, the reason being that the Government pursues two incompatible goals at the same time. For instance Government is pursuing the programme of policy eradication and youth employment and at the same time pursues the policy of downsizing and retrenchment of public servants. More so the enabling environment is not created to promote small-scale businesses. The paper recommends that the power sector should be restructured since it would be difficult for small business holders to operate and break even without adequate support from public power supply. Credit scheme programme should be well articulated and strictly implemented. Key words: Poverty, development, millennium.