No fewer than 112million Nigerians now live below poverty level as global poor hits one billion mark. According to the latest poverty report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, about 112 million Nigerians (representing 67.1 per cent) of the country's total population of 167million.
Meanwhile as the world yesterday marked International Day for Eradication of Poverty, International Labour Organisatiion, ILO, has raised the alarm that number of poor people in the world has hit the one billion mark.
In a statement to mark the occasion, ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, said though Work should be the best route out of poverty, but 327 million working men and women live in extreme poverty and 967 million in moderate and near poverty.
According to him: "These figures, unacceptable as they are, do not relay the deep human cost of poverty, which restricts access to the most fundamental of needs. It robs individuals of their dignity and increases vulnerability to hunger, physical and mental illness, human rights abuses and exclusion.
It is important therefore that the theme of this year's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty focuses on Moving from humiliation and exclusion to participation: Ending poverty in all its forms "Humiliation and exclusion are drivers of poverty, as well as consequences of it.
Discrimination, whether based on gender, ethnicity, sexuality or other grounds can lead to exclusion and restricts pathways out of poverty. Extreme natural events and conflict can lead abruptly to the upheaval of lives and increased vulnerability to exclusion and poverty.
We, all of us, have the right to participate in society and enjoy the dignity it brings. Access to decent work opportunities for all is the most effective way to increase participation, lift people out of poverty, reduce inequality and drive economic growth."
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