10 Million Nigerians Lifted Out of Multidimensional Poverty Through Infrastructure Investments - Presidency
By: Israel Adeleke
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that the Presidency has declared that ongoing investments in infrastructure have lifted more than 10 million Nigerians out of multidimensional poverty.
OTN News further reports that the special adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Economic Matters, Tope Fasua, made the disclosure during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday.
Fasua stressed that infrastructure development is central to addressing multidimensional poverty, which he described as deprivation caused not only by low income but also by inadequate access to essential social amenities.
“One of the things I’ve been writing on is the centrality of infrastructure towards reducing multidimensional poverty. It is defined as non-income poverty, poverty relating to the availability of basic infrastructure. Therefore, the only way you can reduce multidimensional poverty is to fund infrastructure—whether it’s roads and bridges, power, renewable energy, water, schools, education, or healthcare. That is very important for us to do,” he explained.
He acknowledged that Nigeria’s multidimensional poverty data has not been updated since 2022, but insisted his personal estimates show a notable decline in poverty levels. According to him, sustained investments under the Tinubu administration have impacted millions of Nigerians.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t actually updated the multidimensional poverty data since 2022. But from my own calculation, about 10 million people have been possibly impacted. Maybe we should be talking about 120 million or even a lot less,” he added.
Fasua further noted that the government’s infrastructural push is designed to tackle the root causes of poverty while positioning Nigeria for long-term economic growth.
OTN News observes that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its last published report (2022) indicated that over 133 million Nigerians were living in multidimensional poverty.
Fasua suggested that with recent investments in power, transportation, water supply, and education, the number has significantly dropped, even though official verification is still pending.
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