Amaechi Blames Poverty, Inequality for Nigeria’s Underdevelopment

Arinze Gideon in Enugu

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has blamed inequality and extreme poverty for Nigeria’s underdevelopment.

Amaechi explained that for Nigeria to attain any meaningful progress, inequality and extreme poverty must be sincerely addressed.

Speaking while delivering the 49th Convocation lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), weekend, the minister regretted that in spite of the government’s poverty alleviation programmes, Nigerians were still bogged down by crippling poverty.

He said poverty was one of the teething problems facing Nigeria, lamenting that Nigeria which was reputed to be the giant of Africa is now viewed as the poverty capital of the world.

Amaechi said so many people are homeless and jobless which are some of the factors that give rise to insecurity in the form of insurgency and agitations like EndSARS as well as agitations for secession being canvassed by some sections of Nigeria.

He noted that hitherto poor nations like India and Brazil were able to curb poverty in their enclave, pointing out that in the past 10 years, India was able to lift 273,000 of its citizens from abject poverty while Brazil, between 2001 and 2009, was able to lift 21,000 of its citizens from acute poverty