Not fewer than 112 million Nigerians now live below poverty level as global poor hits one billion mark. According to the latest poverty report by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, about 112 million Nigerians (representing 67.1 per cent) of the country’s total population of 167 million. In a statement to mark the occasion, ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, said though work should be the best route out of poverty, but 327 million working men and women live in extreme poverty and 967 million in moderate and near poverty. He said the population of the nation’s poor people was 80 million in 1999, i.e., when Nigeria returned to democracy. This figure which was contained in the 2010 poverty profile report of the agency represented 69 per cent of the country’s total population.

Source: The Guardian December 15, 2017 03:11 UTC