Poverty in Nigeria Essay -- Poverty Essays

Poverty in Nigeria Nigeria is one of the leading oil producing countries in the world. It makes billions of dollars annually, yet the majority of the population lives in poverty. With around 70% of its people living with this problem it is also one of the poorest countries in the world ( Nigeria 's economy dominated by oil ). One of the major contributors to this problem is government. Because the country is well known for its lack of leadership the money made through oil trade is kept by rich benefactors, and the poor are left with nothing. Another major problem that is increasing poverty is Nigeria's population. The amount of people being born is far exceeding the amount of jobs available for them. Due to these two factors the level of poor people living in Nigeria today is staggering. The gap between the rich and the poor is so large that there is almost no inclination of a middle class at all ( Thomas ). If Nigeria wants to get rid of this gap then both the government and the increase in population growth will have to be dealt with. Government is one of the major issues in Nigeria today. Continually corrupted and constantly unstable it accounts for the majority of the problems relating to poverty in the country. With major amounts of money coming in from oil export it would seem logical that the population would see some of the profits, but they don't. Rich benefactors who lead the country take the profits and gain income for themselves. In return they leave costs for improving community life up to the people to deal with. Because of this aid to the public is limited. Health care is non existent, village improvements are unheard of, and the cost for food and other essential materials are increasing. These issues then ... ...r issue that needs to be changed is the population growth in the country. Because of the lack of available jobs, and the amount of people who need work, there are beginning to be conflicts and deaths as a result. Nigeria is a country with mass potential, but nothing is being done to take advantage of it. The country needs many things to establish this gain, but the first step would be a major change in the way the country is ran. If it doesn't change this then the potential that it does have will vanish and the ability to maintain the country will be gone. Citations: Nigeria 's economy dominated by oil . 16 Jan. 2002 . BBC news. 22 Apr. 2005 . Doyle , Mark . Poverty behind Nigeria 's violence . 19 May. 2004. BBC news. 22 Apr. 2005 . Thomas, Saji; Canagarajah ,Sudharshan. Poverty in a wealthy economy: the case of Nigeria . 2002. Eldis. 22 Apr. 2005 . Poverty in Nigeria Essay -- Poverty Essays Poverty in Nigeria Nigeria is one of the leading oil producing countries in the world. It makes billions of dollars annually, yet the majority of the population lives in poverty. With around 70% of its people living with this problem it is also one of the poorest countries in the world ( Nigeria 's economy dominated by oil ). One of the major contributors to this problem is government. Because the country is well known for its lack of leadership the money made through oil trade is kept by rich benefactors, and the poor are left with nothing. Another major problem that is increasing poverty is Nigeria's population. The amount of people being born is far exceeding the amount of jobs available for them. Due to these two factors the level of poor people living in Nigeria today is staggering. The gap between the rich and the poor is so large that there is almost no inclination of a middle class at all ( Thomas ). If Nigeria wants to get rid of this gap then both the government and the increase in population growth will have to be dealt with. Government is one of the major issues in Nigeria today. Continually corrupted and constantly unstable it accounts for the majority of the problems relating to poverty in the country. With major amounts of money coming in from oil export it would seem logical that the population would see some of the profits, but they don't. Rich benefactors who lead the country take the profits and gain income for themselves. In return they leave costs for improving community life up to the people to deal with. Because of this aid to the public is limited. Health care is non existent, village improvements are unheard of, and the cost for food and other essential materials are increasing. These issues then ... ...r issue that needs to be changed is the population growth in the country. Because of the lack of available jobs, and the amount of people who need work, there are beginning to be conflicts and deaths as a result. Nigeria is a country with mass potential, but nothing is being done to take advantage of it. The country needs many things to establish this gain, but the first step would be a major change in the way the country is ran. If it doesn't change this then the potential that it does have will vanish and the ability to maintain the country will be gone. Citations: Nigeria 's economy dominated by oil . 16 Jan. 2002 . BBC news. 22 Apr. 2005 . Doyle , Mark . Poverty behind Nigeria 's violence . 19 May. 2004. BBC news. 22 Apr. 2005 . Thomas, Saji; Canagarajah ,Sudharshan. Poverty in a wealthy economy: the case of Nigeria . 2002. Eldis. 22 Apr. 2005 .