In order to effectively rebut a recent report that tagged Nigeria the World’s Poverty Capital by the World Bank, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has begun another survey after the Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS) of 2018/19.
Speaking the enumerators for the Nigeria Living Standards Survey (NLSS), the Statistician General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NBS, Prince Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran, disclosed that in a survey carried out in 2018/19, only 40.1 per cent Nigerians were poor.
“As a follow-up to the 2018/19 survey, NBS is journeying on another poverty and welfare statistics by default and as usual, poverty reports are sensitive and delicate; the reason the enumerators should be extra-careful in gathering their data. This is because it is one of the indicators commonly used to assess government performance and the impact of its policies and programmes on the lives of the citizens.
“So, this survey is one that is widely anticipated. More so, now that we are in an election season, where the results would be used to score political points. Though, we do not expect the results of this survey in time for the election, that does not by any means reduce the anticipation or expectations from the exercise,” he said.
To ensure that the result will be accurate, Adeniran assured that NBS will involve international best practice in the conduct of the exercise. “This includes all aspects of the survey, particularly in the collection, monitoring and processing of the data. You may also wish to know that significant improvements have been made to the questionnaire for this round, with the addition of new modules and the removal of the community questionnaire from the last round, which has made up for a more streamlined instrument.
“Some of the new additions include modules on remittances, migration and absentee household members, migration aspiration, social cohesion, petrol subsidy, and also poor wellbeing,” he added.
In his statements, Mr I.Z maigida,the Project Director and Director, Field Services and Methodology Department, elaborated that the Living Standards Survey generally amounts living conditions of the population of any country.
“It also provides essential information for the production of a wide range of socio-economic and demographic indicators, including for benchmarking and monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals, monitoring progress in population’s welfare and measuring the impact of various government policies on households,” he said.
It is recalled that in 2016, World Bank in its survey rated Nigeria the poverty capital of the world. The World Bank’s data had shown that four in every 10 Nigerians live below the poverty line of $1.9 per day.
