World Bank Report Sparks Debate: Northern Nigeria Faces Deepening Poverty as Citizens Decry Economic Hardship
STORY WRITTEN BY OKAFOR JOSEPH OCTOBER 10,2025
The report, titled “From Policy to People: Bringing the Reform Gains Home,” was unveiled in Abuja on Wednesday by the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mathew Verghis, during the launch of the October 2025 Nigeria Development Update (NDU).
According to the Bank, Nigeria risks losing the benefits of its ongoing economic reforms if the gains fail to translate into tangible improvements in the lives of citizens.
Presidency Disputes World Bank’s Poverty Figures
Following the report’s release, the Presidency dismissed the World Bank’s statistics, calling them “unrealistic and detached from Nigeria’s local realities.”
In a statement issued by Sunday Dare, Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the government argued that the World Bank’s poverty estimate was based on a global poverty line of $2.15 per person per day, set in 2017 using the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) model.
Dare explained that the conversion of $2.15 per day into naira amounts to roughly ₦100,000 per month, which exceeds the country’s new ₦70,000 minimum wage, making the World Bank’s figure more of an “analytical construct” than a real reflection of income levels.
“President Tinubu’s administration remains committed to reducing poverty, but Nigeria rejects exaggerated statistical interpretations detached from its economic realities,” the statement read.
Opposition, Activists React: “Reality Cannot Be Denied”
However, several opposition figures and civil activists have criticized the government’s stance, insisting that the World Bank report mirrors the true hardship Nigerians face daily.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), in a statement on Thursday, urged the Tinubu administration to accept the findings, describing them as evidence that current economic policies have worsened living conditions.
Mahdi Shehu: “The North Has Been Reduced to Economic Slavery”
Human rights advocate Mahdi Shehu said the World Bank report only confirms what citizens have experienced for years.
Speaking to DAILY POST, Shehu lamented that over 80% of Northern Nigerians have been trapped in “permanent economic bondage,” citing poor leadership, corruption, and insecurity as key drivers.
“The North has become the worst victim of economic dispossession. Democracy has brought nothing but hunger, broken homes, malnutrition, and hopelessness,” Shehu said.
He added that Nigeria’s democratic system has “destroyed trade, commerce, and social values” in the region, leaving citizens in extreme poverty while politicians live in luxury.
Jafar Sani Bello: “Rejecting the Report Is Injustice to the Poor”
Political analyst Hon. Jafar Sani Bello also urged the government to face the truth, saying that ignoring the World Bank’s findings would be a “grave injustice” to millions of impoverished Nigerians.
“It’s an unpalatable truth, but we must accept it,” Bello said. “The North has been hardest hit due to insecurity, failed agricultural policies, and the high cost of fertilizers and imported staples.”
He noted that many northern farmers are struggling to survive, as rising production costs and insecurity have crippled agricultural productivity and worsened food scarcity.
