A brand new grassroots survey by the Massive Tent coalition, a political ideological group, has warned that Nigeria’s rural poverty ranges have deteriorated so drastically that circumstances at the moment are worse than they had been at independence in 1960, with 75 % of rural Nigerians dwelling in “continual poverty.”
The evaluation led by a professor of Political Economic system and activist, Pat Utomi, paints an image of a nation on the brink, overwhelmed by starvation, insecurity, collapsing infrastructure, and a political class “extra targeted on energy and propaganda than function.”
“You don’t want statistics to see that starvation is savaging the land,” the group stated in a 14-page report launched Sunday. “Stroll the streets of Ibadan or Maiduguri and also you’ll see the brand new destitution.”
The Massive Tent, which types itself as a reformist political motion, drew comparisons to the early post-independence period when rural farmers generated nationwide financial savings by way of agriculture.
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Immediately, the group stated, insecurity and coverage neglect have stripped rural areas of resilience, leaving tens of millions on the mercy of rising meals prices and near-zero public companies.
The warning comes amid rising poverty ranges in Africa’s most populous nation as 129 million residents have been plunged into poverty in 2024. And greater than 30 million Nigerians face acute meals and vitamin insecurity within the ongoing lean season, in keeping with the coalition, a determine backed by worldwide reduction businesses already making ready assist interventions.
‘State is dropping legitimacy’
The report went past statistics to concern an ethical indictment of Nigeria’s ruling elite. It described a widening chasm between the state and residents, with rising public disillusionment over financial hardship, electoral manipulation, and systemic corruption.
“The tragedy of the Nigerian situation is that governments proceed operating in profligacy within the face of mass distress,” the report stated. “This displays a deep disaster of legitimacy.”
Massive Tent cited findings from a grassroots survey throughout Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, which confirmed that residents are “offended and hungry”; belief in political management is collapsing; and demand is rising for peace, jobs, and responsive governance.
The coalition accused the President Bola Tinubu present administration of being distracted by little or no affect tasks like new presidential jets and the controversial Lagos-Calabar superhighway, which it described as “a traditional case of state seize.”
‘No technique for the poor’
Within the agricultural sector — as soon as Nigeria’s financial spine — coverage paralysis and safety threats have crushed productiveness. Regardless of accounting for 22 % of GDP and using greater than a 3rd of the labour power, the sector suffers from a N1.04 trillion commerce deficit and dependence on over $10 billion in annual meals imports.
The coalition warned of a authorities “disconnected from actuality,” with no coherent plan to reverse starvation or rural financial collapse.
Massive tent’s coverage blueprint
Amongst its suggestions, Massive Tent known as for assigning universities to drive agricultural extension companies; reforming land tenure programs to unlock capital; prioritising rural infrastructure and meals processing clusters; and derisking personal funding in agriculture and manufacturing.
The group outlined a region-specific industrialisation plan that features lithium battery manufacturing in North Central, leather-based and gum Arabic within the Northwest, and cocoa processing within the Southwest — echoing the sectoral technique of Southeast Asia’s financial rise.
Learn additionally: Insecurity, poor infrastructure fueling Nigeria’s rising rural poverty – Adeosun
Well being and schooling in disaster
The report additionally spotlighted Nigeria’s worsening well being and schooling programs, describing them because the “fountains of human capital now poisoned by neglect.”
It famous that over 60 % of Nigerian-trained docs now work overseas, and public schooling is sustained largely by low-cost personal colleges in casual settlements.
On corruption and debt
Corruption, the group stated, stays Nigeria’s most existential menace. It urged the complete digitisation of elections and using applied sciences like blockchain in public finance.
It additionally warned in opposition to Nigeria’s rising debt urge for food, following a latest approval by lawmakers for a $29 billion borrowing plan.
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“We’re mortgaging the long run,” the report stated, calling for a constitutional modification to require balanced budgets apart from investment-grade loans.
A nation at a crossroads
The Massive Tent’s message is obvious: Nigeria is within the throes of a multidimensional disaster, financial, social, and ethical, and time is operating out. “The state of our nation is terrifying,” Utomi stated. “Residents have an obligation to reclaim the general public sq.. That is the aim of democracy — and that is the urgency of now.”
