Inequality report: Nigeria ranked worst country in Africa

According to reports conducted by OXFAM, Nigeria has been ranked the worst country leading in the rise of inequality.

Despite Nigeria being the largest economy with a population of about 200 million, majority do not have access to safe water and lack adequate sanitation.

According to the report, ten million children are school drop outs and more than half of the population (112 million) live in extreme poverty.

To eradicate poverty in Nigeria, about $24 billion would be required. Nigeria has been recognized as one of the world’s most unequal countries, with inequality levels comparable only with those in Brazil.

According to the index, in West Africa, Nigerians performed poorly across all three pillars.

The Nigerian government earned the worst score on social spending not only in West Africa but globally out of the 157 countries conducted by the global CRI Index. This is as a result of insufficient investment and poorly targeted policies in the country.

Prof. Godfred Bokpin however noted that a country such as Nigeria which holds such a huge population should not be at the bottom of the index.

“Nigeria being a record holder, their commitment to reducing inequality is at the bottom, perhaps the country with the highest number should be showing more effort… but overall it’s not good”.

He admonished African countries to scale up their revenue circle by putting to a stop illicit flows of cash.

“Study has shown that Africa loses annually about $50bn through illicit financial flows and that tells you Africa leaks and how much we are losing is how much other countries are getting and that is how much Africa is financing the rest of the world through illicit financial flows. If we could close all these leakages we will be able to scale up how revenue envelop without burdening the faithful few.”