Nigeria has been again ranked as the least on global inequality index, ranking 157 out of 157 countries and 125 out of 145 countries on the Gender Inequality Index.
Oxfam in its first ever report on Commitment to Reducing Inequity Index (CRII) also raised concern that insecurity in the country is a major consequence of inequality.
Addressing the media Tuesday in Abuja, Oxfam Interim country Director Mr. Constant Tchona, said the scale of inequality is staggering as Nigeria is the only oil-producing nation in the league of five countries with the largest number of poor people.
According to him, the index measures, compares and ranks West African governments’ commitment on 3 pillars: public spending, taxation, and labour markets and that the report also includes a regional analysis of agriculture and land rights.
“In Nigeria, as a small but growing group becomes fantastically rich, a clear majority of the country’s citizens are denied the most essential elements of a dignified life like access to quality education, healthcare and decent jobs.
“The scale of economic inequality in Nigeria has reached extreme levels, and it finds expression in the daily struggles of the majority of the population in the face of accumulation of obscene amounts of wealth by a small number of individuals. While more than 112 million people were living in poverty in 2010, the richest Nigerian man will take 42 years to spend all of his wealth at $1 million per day,” he said.
According to the report, 57 million Nigerians lack access to safe water, over 130 million are without access to adequate sanitation, it also revealed that Nigeria has the highest number of children-out-of-school in Africa which is over 10 million while 69% of Nigerians are living below the poverty line.
The report also revealed that five of Nigeria’s richest men have a combined wealth of US$29.9 billion more than the country’s entire national budget for 2017. However, about 60 per cent of its citizens live on less than US$1.25 a day, the threshold for absolute poverty.
