UNFPA says 250 million Nigerians will fall into poverty if…

The United Nation Population Fund says 250 million Nigerians would be living in poverty in the future if the Federal Government fails to invest in healthcare and education.

Ms Ulla Mueller, the country representative of the organisation said this on Monday, November 21, 2022, at a parliamentary summit to fast-track Nigeria’s demographic transition, Daily Trust reports.

“The imperative we have is to take actions now, in a world of 8 billion people, in a country that in a very few years will be the third most populous in the world, there could be 250 million people that could feel sense of opportunities and possibilities, but with the wrong investment, there could be 250 million people living in increased poverty and increased insecurity.

“We have to record this. To do that without family planning, there’ll be no universal health and demographic transition,” she said.

Speaking at the event, Nasir Isa Kwarra, Chairman, National Population Commission said harnessing the demographic dividend is not automatic.

According to him, each nation is expected to meet certain “conditions that start with achieving a rapid and speedy fertility decline, holistically to permit sufficient demographic transition for economic transformation to occur.”

Recently, the Federal Government reiterated its commitment to lift 34 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2025.

The Statistician-General of the Federation, Semiu Adeniran made this known in Abuja at an interactive session on Multi-Dimensional Poverty organised by the High-Level Forum on the SDGs, an initiative of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).

The Statistician-General while addressing journalists after the session said the Federal Government through its National Development Plan has indicated passion to lift 34 million Nigerians out of poverty by the year 2025.