Can Buhari walk the talk on poverty reduction?
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Julia Bello-Schünemann
re s i d e nt Mu ha m ma d u Buhari’s much anticipated inaugural speech finally came during the June 12 Democracy Day celebration in Abuja. It left in its wake serious debates, particularly regarding
insight
Julia Bello-Schünemann his promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years. Reducing poverty
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is easier said than done. On current evidence, Buhari and his top aides require sound planning on a scale and speed never before seen in Nigeria if they are to reContinues on page 50
Why faster growth rates matter
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i g e r i a’s e c o n o my would probably expand 2.5 percent in 2019, according to consensus estimates. The Federal Government expects growth will be even stronger going by its 2.7 percent target. However, both estimates are hardly enough to cheer because it means the economy will grow at a rate too little to absorb a rapidly growing population this year, for the fifth year in a row. Nigeria’s average annual population growth rate of 2.6 percent means on average some 5.2 million Nigerians are born every year or 14,246 daily, each one needing hard and soft infrastructure from power to education and healthcare. Economic growth in the region of 2 percent is hardly enough to cater to those needs, paving the way for more Nigerians to slip below the poverty line. Nigerians are already grow-
ing poor at an alarming rate as the steady decline in average incomes or GDP per capita (calculated by dividing total economic output by population) since 2015 shows.
Shrinking GDP per capita means the economy is not growing fast enough to create economic opportunities like jobs for its people and that is a recipe for poverty.
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Moving Nigeria from poverty to wealth: LOLADE AKINMURELE
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The decline in GDP per capita was sparked by the lengthy collapse in oil prices which curbed economic growth in Africa’s Continues on page 50
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NNPC’s oil explorations: A wild goose chase? … Conceals outcome of oil search in Gongola 140 days after DIPO OLADEHINDE
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t a time when major oil producing countries are preparing for life beyond oil, Nigeria’s optimism in oil exploration at the Chad basin or Gongola basin has been seen as a poor investment decision and lack of understanding of the future of oil. After about 40 years, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) returned to the search for oil in the North in February 2019, a decision which has generated debate concerning viability of the search, primarily Continues on page 50
Inside Analysts say only sound economic reforms can accelerate bank lending P. 2 L-R: Ejiro Foyibo, deputy president (South), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, PSN president; Bukky George, founder/CEO, HealthPlus Limited; Emeka Duru, national secretary, PSN, and Foluke Akiniranye, chief retail operations officer, HealthPlus Limited, at the courtesy visit by the PSN President and his EXCO to HealthPlus headquarters, recently.