The release of the Nigerian Living Standards Survey 2019 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is a commendable contribution to the country’s data sources and databank. The Living Standards Survey (NLSS 2019) comes at the critical time of ongoing analyses and contemplation of the implications of the double whammy of COVID-19 and the near decimation of the oil industry. It should be a handy reference for the Federal Executive Council and the Council of States, among others.
The highlight of the report is a new baseline for assessing poverty in the country. The NLSS says that the Nigerian poverty line is an aggregate expenditure of N137,400 per person per year representing the monetary value of the food and non-food spending needed for an individual to achieve a basic level of warfare. Food expenditure minimum is N81,767 per person per year. The food expenditure draws on an aggregate per capita calorie allowance of 2251 calories per day.
Included in the consumption aggregate are expenditures on food, schooling and education, healthcare and housekeeping, Housing, and maintenance. The figures indicate that with the faithful implementation of the minimum wage of N30000 monthly or N360,000 per annum, workers in Nigeria should live above the poverty line. Unfortunately, implementation of the new minimum wage agreed in 2018 has been a tussle in many states.
NLSS 2019 puts the number of poor Nigerians at 40.1 percent. It translates to 82.9 million of the 200 million Nigerians. The bulk of the poor, 52 percent, live in rural areas while only 18 per cent are in urban centres.
NBS says the calculation of poverty numbers excludes Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram crisis, as it could not conduct surveys therein.
The “per cent of poverty line” per state confirms that the states in the North East and North West of the country deliver the worst numbers in percentage terms. The figures are Taraba 42.38, Sokoto 38.82, and Jigawa 38.73. Others are Adamawa 27.64, Zamfara 26.48, Yobe 26.48 and Niger State 21.68.
The Nigerian average is 12.9 percent.
Ebonyi sticks out as the sore thumb in the figures for southern Nigeria, posting a score of 34.09 percent poverty index. Neighbouring Enugu State follows with 16 percent.
Other southern states are Cross River 9.7, Abia 7.2, Imo 6.9, Akwa Ibom 7.3, Rivers 5.5, Bayelsa 5.3, Anambra 3.2, Ondo 2.3, Edo 2.9. Lagos 0.7, Delta 0.9, Osun 1.4, Ogun 1.6, and Oyo 1.9 make up the numbers.
There is a correlation between education, their occupation and gender of people to poverty—the less educated, female, and not holding a top job, the more likely to be poor.
According to the NBS, “The Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS) is the official survey that is the basis for measuring poverty and living standards. The NBS conducted the latest round of the NLSS between September 2018 and October 2019 after a decade. It is a representative survey with a sample size of 22,110 households, focusing on increasing household and individual demographics (age, gender, marital status, among others), access to education, health and basic services, employment, assets, and income. The survey measures the prevalence of poverty and to estimate a wide range of socio-economic indicators, including benchmarking of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Unfortunately, users cannot compare the results of this survey with the previous one ten years earlier. NBS claims it is because of changes in methodology that mean the apple of 2019 is akin to the grape of 2010. Even so, other surveys are available, including the National Demographic and Health Survey 2018. The critical task is for the Federal and state governments to step up and step in to improve these numbers, despite.
