Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed.
ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has lamented the poverty level in the state said the state now rank 8th most poor state in the country.
He said that the rate of poverty and social inequalities was caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast region in which Bauchi is part of.
According to him, as a result of the insurgency and the effect of migration of people into the state the state’s limited resources have been overstretched.
The governor stated this during a Town Hall Meeting with the Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Investment Programmes which held at the Multi-Purpose Indoor Sports Hall Complex in Bauchi on Tuesday.
Mohammed, who was represented by his deputy, Senator Baba Tela said that the statistics were released by the National Bureau of Statistics in May this year.
He said: “As I speak now, Bauchi is ranked 8th most poor state in Nigeria. The rate of poverty and social inequalities are sustained by the ongoing conflict with the Boko Haram and the effect of migration in the Northeast which has greatly overstretched our limited resources.
“Data has shown that 83 million Nigerians are now living below the poverty line. It means these figures are considered poor even by our own standard.
“It is now left to all of us at various levels of leadership to rise up to this challenge, by taking decisive measures to revise this alarming trend.”
The governor added that: “Judging from the recent protests on out streets, we must make converted efforts to stem the tide of inequality, time is not on our side.”
He said the meeting which was organised by the state government in collaboration with the senate committee and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, was to map out strategies to maximize the benefits of the programme to the people of Bauchi state and the nation at large.
“No doubt, the components of Social Investment Programmes have tremendously impacted on the academic well-being of our people as we have clearly seen today.
“It is my conviction that youth and women who are the back bone of any meaningful development in the society are well taken care of.
“It is in line with this that the government is creating an enabling environment to better the lives of our citizens, through skills acquisition programmes in the state,” he said.
Mohammed further said to improve the standard of living of the citizens government was making conscious effort to give priority to the youth and women through its policies and programmes.
He said government was open to work with development partners to better the lives of the people of the state.