NBS ranking: Why poverty prevails in Ebonyi – Commissioner


Following the recent ranking by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which rated Ebonyi state as the fourth poorest state in Nigeria and first in the South-east, with regards to economic development, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Chief Oluchukwu Ukie Ezeali, has said that the state governor, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, has been doing his best to make sure that Ebonyians are lifted out of poverty.


Reeling out statistics in a statement he signed and made available to Blueprint Sunday, Ezeali said that urban migration was one of the reasons Ebonyi state has struggled to get out of poverty, but that, using the Chinese model, the state governor embarked on an urbanization drive across state “not just to create an enabling environment for business and productivity, but also to make the entire state habitable”.


The statement reads in part: “Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the poverty index of states, ranking Ebonyi state as the 4th poorest dtate in Nigeria. It came to a lot of people as a surprise, given the massive infrastructural development of the Engr. David Umahi-led Administration over the past 5 years. 
“Urban migration is one of the reasons Ebonyi state has struggled to get out of poverty. The gap between urban and rural poverty rates continues to diverge as more young productive labour flee the rural areas in search of opportunities in urban areas, leaving the rural areas poorer. This has been the fate of Ebonyi State and just a drive through Lagos traffic in recent years will tell you half the story.


“Nevertheless, Umahi, understanding this problem, embarked on an urbanization drive across Ebonyi State; not just to create an enabling environment for business and productivity, but also to make the entire State habitable. Ebonyi state was fast becoming an old people’s home before the emergence of Engr David Umahi as Governor. Almost every young productive and enterprising Ebonyian lived in diaspora, but the story is different today.”


He added: “More Ebonyians and non-indigenes are investing in the state and creating jobs as more young people shun the dangers of an uncertain sojourn to Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Onitsha and are taking advantage of the opportunities that the urbanization and modernization of the state has provided.


“The high quality roads constructed across the state by the present administration has bridged the gap between rural and urban categorizations as the productive labour force in the hinterlands are growing; due to the accessibility of markets for farm produce and other crafts that the state has always been known for. 


“Roads create access, which leads to opportunities and wealth. Today, all the markets in Ebonyi state are busier because of these roads. The state is now a route for commercial motorists plying Enugu, Anambra, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Abia states. Umahi is laying a solid foundation for economic growth and like most reform policy interventions, the gains are usually in phases and most are already manifesting.”

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