The Political Economy of Poverty Eradication in Nigeria: The Perilous and Tortuous Journey for Mdgs

Abstract

Poverty remains an onerous task and a tremendous challenge that has proved somewhat insurmountable globally. Poverty is also an excruciating and agonizing reality in sub-Saharan Africa and in Nigeria, poverty has become a vicious cycle and in the face of the multiplicity of policies, strategies and programmes, there is yet no answer to the pervasive plague, nor is there any marked progress towards reducing poverty, let alone eradicating it. This study examines the problems of the political economy nature and character of the manipulation of the perceived or assumed real efforts at eradicating poverty in pursuance of the landmark Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria. The study derived its data from valuable secondary sources and adopted apolitical economy conceptual framework. The study equally posits that the failure, dysfunctionality and inefficacy of poverty reduction and eradication efforts in Nigeria are largely a deliberate design by the leadership and governing class. Furthermore, the paper opined that the journey towards the actualization of the Millennium Development Goal of poverty eradication in Nigeria is perilous, tortuous and foggy. The study concluded with some useful recommendations including structural and institutional reforms that will create a genial climate in order to engineer a strategically systematic, pragmatic, coherent and integrated approach to poverty reduction and elimination policies and action programmes with effective and coordinated public/private sector partnership in Nigeria.

Keywords: political economy, poverty eradication, Nigeria, MDGs.