Nigeria is generally regarded as the giant of Africa. It has a a growing population of over 200 million people.
However, poor governance, infrastructural deficiencies, and a high rate of unemployment have seen her hijack the world poverty capital nation from India.
This is greatly aided by the country’s high level of corruption.
In Nigeria, petroleum is the major source of wealth despite the prevalence of agriculture.
However, a great percentage of Nigerian population lives in the poverty line. This cuts across salary earners, students, marketers, Farmers and so on.
Poverty level is the minimum financial strength that is needed to acquire basic necessities in life.
A person whose income falls below poverty level is adjuged to be living in poverty.
The world bank revealed that almost half of Nigerians live in the poverty line – $2 dollars a day. According to reports released on 2018, the unemployment rate peaked to 23.1%.
According to the world bank “Nigeria is a country experiencing high level of inequality along geographic lines, with high poverty concentration in Northern and rural areas.”
Also, in 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBC) said that more than 40% of the nation are living in poverty. NBC used $1 dollar as a standard of evaluation. This figure means that 5 out of every 10 Nigerian, earns below $1 per day.
Conventionally, this points that 82m Nigerians lives in poverty according to reports by NBC.
The stats would have gone more worse if Borno state was included. The exclusion was due to the state’s high level of insecurity caused by the Boko Haram insurgents.
It is vital to note that Nigerian is a country enriched with diversity in culture, norms, language and traditions.
They are 380 ethnic group (call it tribes) in Nigeria. These tribes are spread across the 36 states in the country.
The major tribes are the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.
Truth be told, due to the unequal distribution of wealth and power among these tribes, some are living in a luxury zone while the rest abode in poverty.
So, here are the ten poorest tribes in Nigeria (2021)
- 1. Kanuri Roots: Borno, Niger Adamawa, Kano, Jigawa, Taraba, Kaduna, Plateau e.t.c
- 2. Fulani Roots: Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Taraba, Borno, Niger, Sokoto, Kaduna e.t.c
- 3. Hausa Roots: Bauchi, Kano, Borno, Niger, Taraba, Zamfara, Kebbi e.t.c
- 4. Uncinda Roots: Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger e.t.c
- 5. Kurama Roots: Niger, Jigawa, Plateau, Kaduna e.t.c
- 6. Jukun Roots: Benue, plateau, Taraba, Bauchi e.t.c
- 7. Lunguda Roots: Bauchi and Adamawa
- 8. Hig Roots: Adamawa and borno
- 9. Angas Roots: Plateau, Bauchi, Jigawa e.t.c
- 10. Terawa Roots: Borno and Bauchi
Those were the poorest tribes in Nigeria. With the above stat, it is clear that minority ethnic groups are the most affected of all.
With the worrying state of Nigeria’s economy, what could really be the cause of this prolonged hardship?
According to the world Bank, they are 9 major causes of poverty in Nigeria. They are
• Unemployment
• Poor quality of education
• Subversion of Social Contract
• Conflicts and violence
• Weak governance
• Lack of basic Infrastructure
• Poor Social Service delivery
• Radicalization and
• Natural disasters
On a final note, Nigeria’s government should pay attention to the underlying issues. Creating a balance in the wealth distribution chain is a good way to start.
What do you think of these tribes and what do you suggest should be done?