Poverty eradication? Read what Senate passed yesterday

– Records have shown that in a total population of 168 million citizens in 2011, 71 million individuals would be living in relative poverty

– The Senate has passed a bill to curb poverty

– The poverty eradication bill has scaled second reading

The Senate on Thursday, April 21, passed the bill for an act to provide for the establishment of national poverty eradication commission for second reading.

While leading the debate, Ibrahim Gobir, the sponsor of the bill who represents Sokoto east senatorial district, he said there was a need to create the commission to coordinate and monitor all activities relating to poverty eradication in the country.

He said the establishment of the commission has become necessary in view of the increasing level of poverty among Nigerians.

Gobir said the commission among other things will help curb the effect of poverty among Nigerians through outreach with international donor organisations.

“The bill seeks to establish a poverty eradication commission as a statutory body to coordinate and monitor all poverty activities in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: My govt will set Nigeria free from poverty – President Buhari

“It is also to maintain an outreach with international donor organisations and quarterly inform Nigerians of the percentage of poverty reduction or increase as the case may be,’’ he said.

Barnabas Gemade representing Benue north east senatorial district criticized that in spite of efforts to eradicate poverty through the creation National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) many Nigerians were wallowing in abject poverty.

He further decried that the programme had not contributed to giving an average Nigerian a means of livelihood.

“The new government this during election that it will deal with the issue of the down trodden during election campaign and this has been captured in the 2015 Budget, with N500 billion allocated to social welfare.

“However, there are no details on how this policy will be implemented. This bill is therefore timely because it will help to come up with a framework on how to implement the money,’’ he said.

However, Bala N’allah, the deputy leader of the Senate commended Gobir for introducing the bill when he expressed concern that there had not been a defined method of dealing with the problem of unemployment in the country.

He said it is a known fact that government cannot employ 70 per cent of the Nigerian population adding that the private sector is what generates employment but there is no conducive environment for our industries.

Also, Jibrin Barau representing Kano north senatorial district said the level of poverty in the country posed threat to security and peaceful coexistence and they should do everything in their power to curb it.

Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy Senate president said called for an improved tax regime to help the poor, adding that  in West Africa, Nigeria has the lowest VAT regime.

“It appears that the gap between the rich and poor is high and unacceptable . We must flow the example of other democracies, especially in Europe where the tax regime is an average of about 40 percent.

“That is a fair way of the rich helping the poor because we have to at all times be our brothers keeper. And one way to do that is through taxation.

“We must find a way of taxing luxury goods to generate income to fund this  commission and redistribute  wealth and resources,” he said.

READ ALSO: Poverty in Nigeria: Alleviation and Eradication

Ekweremadu  expressed hope that  when passed, the objectives of the bill would  be met.

The bill was referred to the committees on national planning and economic and poverty eradication to be returned to Senate in four weeks.

Similarly on the poverty situation in Nigeria, Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim the executive director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), highlighted poverty and inequalities as major challenges to achieving the MDGs in Nigeria, on or before 2015.

Recent statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that there is significant spatial differentiation in Nigeria’s poverty profile with the North lagging behind

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