Don’t get it twisted: Okonjo-Iweala ‘explains’ why the World Bank says Nigeria is “extremely poor”

Nigeria is a poor nation. Settled fact? Not so much if you ask Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. She has come out to clarify the World Bank’s new “extreme poor nation’’ rating of Nigeria, as one based on the large number of poor people living in the country.

That was the impression we initially had of the rating ma’am. It’s that explicit. Or isn’t it?
Okonjo-Iweala made the attempted clarification when she spoke with journalists in Abuja Thursday.
World Bank President, Dr Jim Yong Kim,had said on Wednesday in Washington, that Nigeria was among the world’s most extremely poor countries. Other countries who share Nigeria’s glorified rating include, India, China, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya.

In Mr Kim’s words, “The fact is that two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor are concentrated in just five countries: India, China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“If you add another five countries, Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya, the total grows to 80 per cent of the extreme poor.”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Okonjo-Iweala explained that the number of poor people in a country,  irrespective of the country’s level of development, was the parameter used to rate Nigeria among the world’s nations with very high poverty levels. According to her, the phenomenon of large number of poor people is one peculiar to middle-income countries like Nigeria.

“India is a middle-income country with one of the largest economies in the world like Nigeria is a big economy, but the largest number of poor people in the world reside in India, China and other places.
“Most middle-income countries, including Brazil, have a large number of poor people, that is the reality and Nigeria is no exception. And when the World Bank president was talking, he also talked about those countries. He mentioned that India is doing well and it has a large number of poor people.’’

“So, we should not try to single Nigeria out. The phenomenon we have in Nigeria is that we are growing but there are poor people everywhere,’’ she added. The minister instead wants Nigerians to focus on answering some of the problems raised by the World Bank and emulate what other countries are doing. “Nobody says that everything is fine but we are learning and where we make some progress like other countries, we should also acknowledge it,’’ she stressed.

She said the federal government was making concerted efforts in different areas of the nation’s economy to reduce poverty and improve living standards, evidence of which was the directive by President Goodluck Jonathan to four ministers to work together to formulate a national social safety programme.

Do you find Madam Okonjo-Iweala’s explanation satisfactory?