A former member, House of Representatives, Robinson Uwak, has called for a more sustainable approach to tackle the increasing rate of poverty and insecurity in the country.
Uwak, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the level of poverty and gross inequality in the country was a threat to national security, stability and unity.
He identified poor data gathering and implementation as some of the reasons poverty alleviation programmes had failed in Nigeria.
“Poverty alleviation ought to be treated as a development policy, not a charity project. This is why the programmes are not only ineffective but unsustainable,” he said.
The ex-lawmaker, however, commended President Bola Tinubu for the equitable distribution of resources amidst the dwindling revenue of the government.
He expressed concern over the poor standard of living, huge unemployment, low wages in the country and called for collective action to tackle the menace.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the World Poverty Clock 2023 Data reported that about 71 million Nigerians were extremely poor and the National Bureau of Statistics classified 133 million people as multidimensionally poor.
(NAN)
