Poverty and Nation Building in Africa: The Nigerian Experience, 1960-2019
Keywords:
Nation-building, Poverty, Corruption, Nigeria, DevelopmentAbstract
This paper explores poverty and nation building in Africa, focusing on the Nigerian experience from 1960 to 2019. It examines what poverty means, the signs of poverty in Africa, the reasons behind poverty in Nigeria, the effects of poverty on the nation’s development and Nigerian efforts to fight poverty. A large number of Nigerians, more than 75% of our population lives on one dollar a day and many others do not have enough to drink, eat, get medical care, go to school or find work. Poverty is a serious problem that ruins lives and prevents people from making progress. The researcher used progressive social theory as the main theoretical framework, data from both primary and secondary sources and a thematic historical and analytical approach. The paper revealed that poverty has negatively affected the growth of Nigeria and Nigerian leaders are working to reduce poverty by identifying the causes of poverty in the country. The study recommends that political leaders should carry out projects and programs that would benefit Nigerians. Political leaders should endeavour to implement their campaign promises to ensure results oriented governance which will take large populations of Nigerians out of poverty.
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