El-Rufai says Nigeria poorer now than at independence

Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has expressed concern that more Nigerians live in poverty today than at the time of the country’s independence in 1960.

Speaking at an interactive session in Owerri, Imo State, the former governor said Nigeria could overcome mass poverty if the Federal Government prioritises it as a central policy goal. He pointed to China and India as examples of nations that have taken deliberate steps to lift millions of citizens out of deprivation.

In a post shared on his X page, El-Rufai said:

“For the sake of our people, we need to have a roadmap for beating mass poverty. It is deeply embarrassing that, judging from the population estimate in 1960, there are now more poor Nigerians than there were Nigerians at independence 65 years ago. China has beaten mass poverty, while India is on a path to ending it. We too can do it, if we make it a governance priority to move our people out of poverty.”

He argued that what Nigeria requires is not the creation of additional bureaucratic agencies or ministries, but a pragmatic economic plan that rewards productivity while discouraging rent-seeking and the get-rich-quick mentality.

“We need an economic programme to achieve this important human goal, a programme that is pragmatic in execution but ambitious in its goal,” El-Rufai said. “What is needed is not new agencies of poverty alleviation or ‘humanitarian affairs’ with a massive bureaucracy, but innovative ways to make honest, hardworking citizens more productive and better rewarded, while discouraging rent-seeking and other ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes in our society.”

El-Rufai maintained that Nigeria’s fight against poverty must be anchored on innovation, hard work, and policies that create opportunities for citizens to thrive, warning that without such measures, poverty will remain a recurring national challenge.