IN two days’, time, Nigeria will clock 65 years as a sovereign Nation. We should all be rolling out the drums to celebrate and be merry. The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Nigeria @ 65: All Hands On Deck For A Greater Nation’. The theme, we have been told, was chosen to emphasize the need for unity, collaboration, and patriotism amongst all sectors and citizenry towards building a nation characterized by sustainable peace, prosperity and progress.
However, are we building a peaceful country when bandits and kidnappers have made life a living hell for most Nigerians? Where is the progress when over two-thirds of the population are swimming in abject poverty? Where is the progress when we don’t even know how many we are in number as a nation? We have been dilly dallying with the conduct of a national census since the Buhari administration and nothing significant has come of it.
President Bola Tinubu has been in charge for the last two years, but it is all motion without movement in the area of knowing our exact figure as a nation. If we do not know, how is planning, which is the hallmark of good governance, possible? The last population census was carried out in 2006. It put our number at 140 million people. Since then, we have been working with projections, with some saying that we are more than 200 million people presently.
Sixty-five years after independence, out of the estimated 200 million Nigerians, 63 per cent are said to be facing multidimensional poverty. That is approximately 133 million Nigerians who are experiencing deprivations in health, education, and living standards. That rate is disproportionately higher in rural areas (72%) compared to urban areas (42%).
Poverty is also said to be more concentrated in the North, particularly the North-west and North East regions. The high rate of multidimensional poverty is an indication that majority of Nigerians face overlapping challenges in meeting their basic needs, which require comprehensive interventions to improve their overall well-being.
In tackling the scourge of poverty amongst the populace, the federal government recently said that N330 billion has been disbursed to 8.1 million households across the country under the National Social Safety Net Programme, aimed at cushioning the harsh effects of economic reforms on Nigeria’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
According to Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, out of the 19.7 million households captured in the National Social Register -representing about 70 million Nigerians, 8.1 million households have received at least one tranche of N25,000 stipend, while some beneficiaries have received two or three payments depending on verification outcomes.
Perhaps, Edun should provide a breakdown of where the money went across the country as most Nigerians don’t know of any beneficiaries of the disbursements.
With most families facing serious hunger and deprivation, it is not a surprise that over 18.3 million children in Nigeria are out of school, which experts say poses a ticking time bomb for national development if left unaddressed. To me, it is no longer a time bomb, but an explosion that has already consumed us all. We are already battling with the after-effects of out-of-school children which has ballooned to the extent that most of the uneducated children provide a ready-made army for bandits and terrorists all over the country.
In addressing the terrible situation, many state governments key into the federal government’s policy of providing free meals to school students in a bid to attract them to attend classes, but the program has also been riddled with corruption, with little or poorly prepared meals getting to the target recipients. It is now a commonplace to see children of school age roaming the streets during school hours either hawking or begging for food.
Sixty-five years after independence, Nigeria still has one of the worst numbers when it comes to maternal and child mortality rates in the world. My country still remain one of the most dangerous places to be pregnant, despite ongoing efforts to address the challenges.
The 2023 UN report on Trends in Maternal Mortality from 2000-2020 revealed that nearly 28.5% of global maternal deaths happen in Nigeria. The report further states that a woman in Nigeria has a 1 in 19 lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum, whereas in the most developed countries, the lifetime risk is 1 in 4900.
The North East zone is reported to experience some of country’s worst MNH outcomes after suffering from ongoing conflict, primarily driven by Boko Haram. The insecurity has led to significant protection concerns, displacement, disrupted livelihoods, and persistent food insecurity. Nigeria’s 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan indicates that approximately 8.3 million people need humanitarian assistance in the North East region alone. Women and children represent 80% of the crisis-affected population.
Again, the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s reports on ‘Trends In Maternal Mortality’, released on April 7th, 2025, revealed that while global maternal mortality has significantly reduced worldwide, Nigeria continues to grapple with one of the highest mortality rates worldwide. This persistent crisis is a reflection of existing systemic failures, gender inequities, and a lack of reproductive justice that adversely affects health outcomes for women in Nigeria.
In this part of the world, life is said to be harsh, brutish and short. The 2024 State of the Nation Health Report indicates that life expectancy in the country, though improving, remains below the global average at 54.6 years. The report highlights that while the country’s average life expectancy now stands at 54.6 years, it is still 25.5 per cent below the global figure of 73.3 years, with women projected to live up to 76 years, and men 70.7 years, highlighting ongoing health and socio-economic challenges.
Three years ago, Nigeria’s unemployment rate was officially at 33%, among the highest on record. However, the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in November 2024 shows the rate of unemployment has since plummeted to 4.3%. This dramatic transformation is not because of any employment boom wrought by Tinubu since taking office two years ago. It is simply down to a change of formula by the statistics office.
In the past, the NBS only counted people aged between 15 and 64 years who worked at least 20 hours a week as employed. Now, anyone 15 years and above “who works for pay or profit” is considered employed, according to International Labour Organization (ILO) guidelines now applied by the statistics office.
Anyone 15 years and above who is available for a job but without work is now considered unemployed, unlike in the past, where only those between 15 and 64 years working less than 20 hours a week were considered as such. Individuals working between one and 39 hours while still ready for more work are considered underemployed. In the past, only those that worked between 20 and 39 hours while ready for more hours fell under this category.
But the stark reality is there for all to see, as able-bodied men and boys are always in streets corners doing nothing. Some are into online fraud, popularly known as ‘yahoo’, while many others have taken to the drug business; either selling or consuming the illicit products to escape their sad realities.
The two economic reforms introduced by the present administration have succeeded in wiping away the middle class in Nigeria. It is either you are ‘stinking’ rich or you are poor. But we have been told to have hope, in a ‘renewed hope agenda’ that gives more promise on paper than in reality. We are told repeatedly that those reforms would bring relief at the end of the day.
While I won’t completely blame the Tinubu government for the poor state of Nigeria despite the huge resources God has bestowed on us, it is incumbent on his government to fashion out ways out of our present sorry state beyond rhetoric.
Just last Friday, Tinubu was in Ibadan, Oyo State, where he told Nigeria that the economy is now on its way to full recovery. I wish that I and other millions of impoverished Nigerians can share his optimism.
Indonesia gained Independence from the Netherlands in 1949, with the final transfer of power occurring in the early 1950s. The nation is far ahead of Nigeria in many ramifications. South Korea became an independent nation in 1948, after the World War II, and is also far ahead of Nigeria on many economic indicators.
Malaysia gained independence from British colonial rule on August 31, 1957, just three years ahead of Nigeria. They got palm oil germplasm from Nigeria in the 1960s. Today, they are far ahead of us in palm oil production. Despite the West dropping two atomic bombs on Japan during the World War, it is one of those countries Nigerians now troop to for asylum. They have been able to dust themselves up and making admirable progress.
Here in Nigeria, we have been battling with poor leadership recruitment process that has left the nation underdeveloped. Many of our leaders are either incompetent or are too greedy in chasing after the nation’s resources for themselves and their cronies.
Now is the time for those in power to have a rethink and prioritize the welfare of the masses. With many countries, starting with Donald Trump of the United States of America now frowning at immigration, there might soon be a time when many of our leaders would have nowhere to hide to enjoy their illicit and ill-gotten wealth, and even the masses will have no greener pastures to migrate to.
I would also gently remind our so-called leaders that the poor masses that they did not take care of while in power won’t allow them to sleep and snore peacefully in their homes when the time comes. It is a known fact that when the poor cannot sleep due to hunger, the rich may become their target.
Happy Independence anniversary, Nigerians.
See you next week.
- Akintunde is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Glittersonline newspaper. His syndicated column, Monday Discourse, appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.