Nigeria Under Tinubu Faces Deepening Hardship as World Bank Reveals 75.5% of Citizens Now Live Below Poverty Line

Nigeria Under Tinubu Faces Deepening Hardship as World Bank Reveals 75.5% of Citizens Now Live Below Poverty Line

 

 

Nigeria is grappling with a worsening economic crisis as the World Bank has revealed that a staggering 75.5 per cent of Nigerians, particularly in rural areas, now live below the poverty line.

 

 

The alarming statistic was released in the Bank’s April 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief, painting a bleak picture of a nation plagued by economic stagnation, rising inequality, and social instability.

 

According to the report, poverty levels have surged to unprecedented levels, particularly in rural communities where insecurity, poor infrastructure, and high inflation have devastated livelihoods. Urban areas are not exempt, with widespread poverty also reported in city centers where living costs have continued to rise sharply.

 

The World Bank cited data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, which revealed that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 30.9 per cent of Nigerians were living below the international extreme poverty line of $2.15 per person per day.

 

However, poverty levels have since worsened, reflecting the failure of successive policy efforts to curb the trend.

 

The report also highlights deep regional inequalities: in 2018/19, poverty rates in the northern regions stood at 46.5 per cent, compared to 13.5 per cent in the south. This divide is echoed in the Gini index, a measure of income inequality, which stood at 35.1 in the same period.

 

One of the most alarming findings of the report concerns the country’s youngest and most vulnerable. Children aged 0 to 14 years face a poverty rate of 72.5 per cent. Meanwhile, lack of education remains a key driver of poverty: 79.5 per cent of Nigerians without formal education live in poverty, compared to 25.4 per cent of those with tertiary education.

 

The World Bank also examined multidimensional poverty, which includes indicators beyond income. Approximately 32.6 per cent of Nigerians lack access to improved drinking water, 45.1 per cent do not have adequate sanitation facilities, and 39.4 per cent remain without electricity.

 

Alarmingly, 9 per cent of households report having at least one school-aged child not enrolled in school, while 17.6 per cent of adults have not completed primary education.

 

Even before the pandemic, the fight against extreme poverty had stalled, the report notes, with only minimal annual reductions since 2010. Today, inflation continues to eat into household incomes, especially in urban areas where wages are failing to keep up with the cost of living.

 

Despite recent economic reforms aimed at stabilising the macroeconomic environment, the World Bank warns that these efforts are insufficient without targeted action.

 

The institution is calling for urgent policies to shield vulnerable groups from inflation shocks, expand access to quality education, and stimulate job creation through more productive sectors.

 

As Nigeria faces one of its most daunting economic periods in decades, the report serves as a wake-up call for policymakers to take decisive action in reversing the nation’s deepening poverty crisis.