President of the Nigerian Association of Economists (NAE), Prof. Innocent Eleazu, says 90 million Nigerians are currently living in extreme poverty due to bad economy and incompetence on the part of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.
Eleazu, who stated this on Sunday during the Association’s Revival/Award Dinner party held in Owerri, Imo State, said the pathetic situation was as “a result of bad economy caused by incompetence, greed, corruption, wickedness and mismanagement of the country’s economy by the ruling class,” and warned that if the situation is not adequately addressed, there may be serious famine in Nigeria by 2025.
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Prof. Eleazu also pointed out that one of the major causes of failure of the Nigerian economy was the “over dependence on crude oil which continues to dominate the Nigerian export sector.”
“In Nigeria today, about 90 million people live in severe poverty which is about 50 percent of the entire population. The Nigeria poverty rate for 2018 was 92.00%, a 0.9 decline from 2009. Imagine what Nigeria’s unemployment rate is today.
“The Consumer Price Index in Nigeria is expected to be 409.75 points by the end of the quarter, according to Trading Economic Globe Macnomodels.
“In 2026, an overwhelming majority of Nigerians will live in extreme poverty. The wealth gap has created the political constitution for terrorism to flourish, making anti- corruption goals unachievable,” the NAE President said.