Crisis of Poverty and Inequality in Oil rich Nigeria

By Sam Olukoya Reprint | | Print |

LAGOS, Nigeria, Nov 26 2014 (IPS) - With a production capacity of over 3 million barrels of crude oil per day Nigeria is Africa’s top crude oil producer and the continent’s largest economy. But Nigeria’s wealth has only benefited a privileged few while majority of the citizens remain poor. Poverty and inequality in Nigeria have increased crime rate and heightened crisis including the insurgency of the terrorist group Boko Haram.

“Nigeria is a perfect example of high level of economic growth co-existing with a high level of poverty and a very high level of inequality…the problem with the kind of growth that Nigeria has is that it tends to focus more on enabling the rich to become richer as opposed to finding a level ground to start ensuring that the wealth is trickling down to the extremely poor people,” says Development economist, Rebecca Roberts.

Filmed and produced by Sam Olukoya in Lagos, Nigeria