National Bureau of Statistics has disclosed that 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor.

In its latest National Multidimensional Poverty Index Report launched on Thursday, the NBS said 63 per cent of Nigerians are poor due to a lack of access to health, education, and living standards, alongside unemployment and shocks.

The MPI offers a multivariate form of poverty assessment, identifying deprivations across health, education, living standards, work and shocks.

According to the Statistician-General at the NBS, Semiu Adeniran, it is the first time they will conduct a standard multidimensional poverty survey in Nigeria.

“The survey was implemented in 2021 to 2022 and it is the largest survey with a sample size of over 56,610 people in 109 senatorial districts in the 36 states of Nigeria,” he said.

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, who revealed the findings from the report said 63 percent of Nigerians are multidimensionally poor meaning that they are being derived in more than one dimension of the four measured.

He said, “Multidimensional poverty is more pronounced in rural areas where 72 per cent of people are poor compared to urban areas where we have 42 per cent.

“Gender disparity continues to affect the population with one in seven poor people living in a household in which a man has completed high school but the woman has not.”

The NBS report further showed Sokoto, Bayelsa, Gombe, Jigawa and Plateau are the top poorest states in 2022.

Sokoto leads the poorest with 90.5 per cent of people in the state poor. It is followed by Bayelsa with 88.5 per cent poor people, Gombe with 86.2 per cent, Jigawa with 84.3 per cent, and Plateau with 84 per cent.

The least poor states are Ondo with 27.2 per cent poor people, Lagos with 29.4 per cent, Abia 29.8 per cent, Edo with 31 per cent, and Anambra with 32.1 per cent.

The report said that 65 per cent of poor Nigerians (86 million) were in the North, while 35 per cent (nearly 47 million) were in the South.

The report noted, “Overall, 65 per cent of poor people – 86 million people – live in the North, while 35 per cent – nearly 47 million – live in the South. In general, a disparity between North and South is evident in both incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty, with the North being poorer.

Punch