Keyamo under fire after blaming state governors, LGA chairmen for multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria

Minster of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo SAN, has come under fire as Nigerians have tackled him over his decision to blame the 36 state governors, and the Local Government Area (LGA) chairmen for the multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria.

Mr Keyamo, while responding to a query from a Twitter user identified as Oyewole Michael (@NigerTrump) who had blamed the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari for overseeing a country challenged by multidimensional poverty and high unemployment rate, said instead that the ‘opposition has been harping on (it) to the deceive Nigerians.’

According to Keyamo, tackling non access to basic amenities by the people was ‘outside the constitutional obligations of the Federal Government,’ adding that ‘they are the responsibilities of sub national governments like State and local governments.’

Keyamo who also doubles as spokesperson of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Organisation, said the report which disclosed of multidimensional poverty in the country was intended ‘for citizens to demand more accountability from those levels of government and to highlight the fact that tackling poverty needs the cooperation of different stakeholders and not just…the Federal Government.’

“…For the first time, let me educate you and millions of Nigerians about this ‘multidimensional poverty’ that the opposition has been harping on to the deceive Nigerians.

“It was our government that consciously commissioned that study and DELIBERATELY released the results. Why? Because, ‘multidimensional’ poverty relates to people not having access to the basic necessities of life like clean water, primary health care, primary education, accessible rural roads for commerce, etc.

“However, these are outside the constitutional obligations of the Federal Government. They are the responsibilities of sub national governments like State and local governments.

“The report was published in order for citizens to demand more accountability from those levels of government and to highlight the fact that tackling poverty needs the cooperation of different stakeholders and not just the responsibility of the Federal Government,” Keyamo responded via his Twitter handle (@fkeyamo), Saturday.

Oracle Today newspaper recalls that in November, 2022, a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), following a survey it conducted along with the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), found that over 130 million Nigerians were living in multidimensional poverty, a figure representing 63 per cent of the entire population.

The data was contained in the NBS’s 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index Survey.

The report added that the poverty index is mostly domiciled in rural areas, especially in the north with women and children being the most affected.

The measure used to calculate the figure was based on Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) with five components of health, living standard, education, security, and unemployment.

According to the survey, over 50 per cent of children across the country are affected by poverty.

Remarking, Statistician-General of the Federation, Mr Adeyemi Adeniran, noted that 56,610 households were surveyed and areas such as health, education, living standards, food security, water reliability, underemployment, security shocks, and school attendance were considered.

Adeniran said while the multidimensional poverty index stood at 27 per cent in Ondo State, the figure is estimated at 90 per cent in Sokoto State.

Highlights of the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index survey reveal that: 63% of persons living within Nigeria (133 million people) are multi-dimensionally poor; The National MPI is 0.257, indicating that poor people in Nigeria experience just over one-quarter of all possible deprivations; 65% of the poor (86 million people) live in the North, while 35% (nearly 47 million) live in the South. Poverty levels across States vary significantly, with the incidence of multidimensional poverty ranging from a low of 27% in Ondo to a high of 91% in Sokoto.

Other highlights include: Over half of the population of Nigeria are multidimensionally poor and cook with dung, wood or charcoal, rather than cleaner energy. High deprivations are also apparent nationally in sanitation, time to healthcare, food insecurity, and housing; Multidimensional poverty is higher in rural areas, where 72% of people are poor, compared to 42% of people in urban areas.

The report also found out that in general, the incidence of monetary poverty is lower than the incidence of multidimensional poverty across most states. In Nigeria, 40.1% of people are poor according to the 2018/19 national monetary poverty line, and 63% are multidimensionally poor according to the National MPI 2022.

However, Keyamo’s position has not gone down well with some Nigerians who have tackled the minister for the comments credited to him, as they accuse him of ‘spending his work hours playing on Twitter.’

Below are some of the reactions which trailed Keyamo’s statement, Saturday:

Oyewole Michael (@NigerTrump) wrote:

Festy, under your watch over 130 million Nigerians became multidimensionally poor and unemployment rate rose to an unprecedented level.

The records are there in public space. B gd.

Haruna_Braimoh (@HarunaBraimoh1):

Multidimensional Poverty is an index that captures the percentage of households in a country deprived along three dimensions of well-being – monetary poverty, education, and basic infrastructure services!! The responsibility to curb this lies in a working LGAs, States & FG.

Festus Akinboyewa(@Fest_Akin) wrote:

He should be blaming his governor and not the FG. Their governors move about in multimillion Naira bullet proof vehicles and large convoys while failing to provide their citizens with quality education, quality healthcare and water. Various non-monetary deprivations in states are what FG measured. By implication, FG called out the states that are doing badly in providing basic needs to their citizens.

Raziel (@razzy_earl) wrote:

The Nigerian constitution confers job creation authority to the Federal government through such tools as the exclusive list. As long as states do not have the right to harness the natural resources in their state, the unemployment buck will always stop with FG and the president

Olabode Samuel (@Abimbolaomonla) wrote:

How come some of you can purchase Blue Thick and can’t purchase a Dictionary? How come? “multidimensional” You tweeted this word yourself oooooh,

Aigee-poet (@nnayeluokoli) wrote:

Has there ever been synergy among the 3 tiers of government to remedy this issue by this government you serving as Minister? Check the time you spent playing politics, dishing out propaganda instead of good governance is enough for a smart minister to proffer solution.

Mee (@Mee88686576) wrote:

Can you please remind us all what the multidimensionally poor figure was before this administration? Thanks.

The crew (@TgeCrew69288891) wrote:

Are you minding the failed minister turned twitter handler, paddling fake news. No respect for his employer, we the tax payers, spending his work hours playing on twitter. We are going to sack you because you have lost focus. Incompetent worker arguing up and down.

Chris Okey wrote:

Why do you make lying your favorite kayamo? Have you ever ask yourself this question?