THE EFFECT OF POVERTY ON NIGERIA’S TRANSFORMATION AGENDA INKADUNA STATE

BY

Ibrahim Yusuf M.Sc, B.Sc (Accounting & Finance)Department of Continuing Education,

Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, Kaduna Stateibrash78@gmail.com

+2348036023501, +2348058303073

&

Dogara Ibrahim AbdulmalikM.Sc, B.Sc (Accounting & Finance)

Department of Accounting Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, Kaduna State

tafidanshika@yahoo.com+2348069299931, +2348176217076

BEING A PAPER PRESENTED AT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ONFEDERAL GOVERNMENTS’ TRANSFORMATION AGENDA: THE WAYFORWARD HELD AT ASSEMBLY HALL, SCHOOL OF LIBERAL

STUDIES (MAIN CAMPUS), ALONG ZARIA-KADUNA ROAD, NUHUBAMALLI POLYTECHNIC, ZARIA

25TH – 28TH JUNE, 2013

ABSTRACT

Poverty is a strong enemy of man; it humiliates, dehumanizes, and disorganizes itsvictim. The study will look at to the extent to which poverty affects the programme offederal government which is Transformation Agenda. The paper used surveyresearch design, primary and secondary data were used through questionnaire andreview of related literature. The study covered 2011-2013. A cross local governmentsurvey was conducted based on the senatorial zones of Kaduna state. Structuredquestionnaires were employed to collect data which was analyzed using variousstatistical tools such as tables, simple percentages, and frequencies. The paperexamined the effect of poverty on Federal Governments’ Transformation Agenda andcame to the conclusion that the Agenda failed to achieve its dream so far due topoverty that surrounded the majority of its citizens but instead it elevated poverty inthe country. The reasons for this include corruption in government and neglect ofthe target group – the poor, who were never considered appropriately during theformulation of the Agenda. The study suggested among others that governmentshould intensify the war against corruption and carry along the target group – thepoor, in the formulation of its programmes by making ‘pro-poor’ policies its focus fortransformations Agenda to stand on its feet.

Key words: Poverty and Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda.

INTRODUCTION

As part of government effort to see that, people live a better

life, various state governments, initiated Poverty Alleviation

programme to see that people living below poverty line are

assisted to live above the line. When government provided

capital to poor ones, especially rural dwellers, then, the

economic growth will be enhanced, because people will engaged

in various activities looking for how to survive without

waiting for anybody to assist them. The level of poverty in

the country will have a direct bearing towards the current

government transformation agenda and in the long run

sustainable development will be enhanced. The concept of

reform is multidimensional; it consists of political, social,

economic and cultural aspects. Different interpretations were

given to the concept. To reform is to change for the better.

It can be seen as to improve by alteration, correction of

error, a removal of defect or to put into a better form or

condition. With this explanation, there is no economic system

that is too perfect or too advanced to be reformed. According

to Jonathan, (2012) both President and Vice President were not

in the position to bring the desired change to the country

alone but that it would require all hands to be on deck to

succeed. The Nigerian economy according to Duru, (2001) is in

distress, characterized by policy summersault, near collapsed

of social/economic infrastructure, rising level of poverty,

unemployment, huge budget deficits, high rate of inflation,

high import dependence, neglect of non-oil sector, poor

governance environment, high cost of doing business,

inefficient state owned enterprises, pervasive corruption and

general insecurity of life and property. Looking at what has

been said; poverty is the bed rock of all. Nigeria has

attempted several reforms agenda but notwithstanding, no

appreciable outcome has being achieved. However, change must

be purposeful towards the attainment of given goals; it must

be effective, efficient and equitable. According to Garba,

(2006), the result must posit the impact positively on the

well being of majority of Nigerians if not all.

This study covers 2011-2013. The period is in agreement with

the transformation agenda of President Good Luck Jonathan

administration and due to the fact that President Jonathan

took the oath of office on 29th May, 2011 (Federal Ministry of

Information and Communications, 2011). The study is in no way

attempting to cover period beyond what has been stated and

will look at the extent poverty affect the successful

implementation of transformation agenda looking at some

selected local governments in Kaduna State. The selection is

based on the senatorial zone (that is, North Senatorial Zone,

Central Senatorial Zone, and South Senatorial Zone). The study

at the end will be beneficial to government in terms of

measures to ensuring that the Transformation Agenda is

achieved. Future researchers among others will equally benefit

especially literatures quoted while making this study.

Therefore, the study is primarily aimed at examining the

effect of poverty on Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda on the

selected areas in Kaduna state.

CONCEPTUALIZATION

There are variations in living standards around the globe, as

economic growth rates and productivity vary from nation to

nation. Some countries are poor, some are fairly well off, and

others are rich, just as some individuals are poor, some are

fairly well off, and others are considered rich. However,

everything is relative and that is certainly the case with

poverty. What most people in the United States today regard as

"stark poverty would seem like luxury in parts of Asia and

Africa…" (Mansfield 1977) in Victor, (2001). Similarly, a poor

person in Nigeria might not be perceived as such by other

Africans in their economic needs. Thus, poverty is partly a

matter of how one person’s income stacks up against the other

person. He further classifies modern poverty into two, namely:

Case Poverty, and Insular Poverty. Case Poverty is the kind of

poverty seen in every community - rural and urban. It

manifests in poor family with "junk-filled yard and dirty

children playing in the bare dirt”. Other qualities peculiar

to the individuals or family afflicted by Case poverty are:

mental deficiency, bad health, inability to adapt to the

discipline of modern economic life, excessive procreation,

alcohol, insufficient education, or perhaps a combination of

several of these handicaps. These conditions hinder these

individuals from participating in general wellbeing in their

life. Insular Poverty on the other hand manifests itself as an

Island. In this imaginary island everyone or nearly everyone

is poor. He has noted that it is not easy to explain insular

poverty by individual inadequacy, because the environment in

which the people found themselves may have made them poor or

may have frustrated them.

Poverty is an enemy of man, it humiliates and dehumanizes its

victim as Ukpong (1996) in Daniel, Idowu, Moses & Bankole,

(2009), rightly noted. Poverty has been a serious challenge to

governments in Nigeria. Its effect which includes lack and

deprivation in the basic necessities of life is worrisome.

Therefore, capacity to raise taxes and manage it is one of the

core foundations of both economic growth and political

development.

In a bid to overcome poverty, governments initiated different

policies and programmes between 1986 and 2004 to alleviate it.

These programmes include: Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural

Infrastructure (DFFRI), Better Life Programme (BLP),

Directorate of Employment (NDE); People’ Bank of Nigeria

(PBN); Community Bank (CB); Family Support Programme (FSP);

Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP); Poverty

Eradication Programme (PEP); National Poverty Eradication

Programme (NAPEP); and National Economic Empowerment

Development Strategy (NEEDS) whose aim were to ameliorate the

suffering of the people by providing them employment

opportunities and access to credit facilities to enable them

establish their own businesses.

Scholars and administrators alike have argued that Nigerians

have no reason to be poor because of the abundance of human

and natural resources including oil and gas available in the

country. For instance, Nigeria realized the sum $300 billion

from crude oil between 1970 and 1990. In addition, the

government earned the total sum of ₦998.4 billion from crude

oil in 2003, yet nothing meaningful to show in terms of

development (Ikelegbe, 2004). 

According to Umar, (2012) it is a public concept, that

Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda, hopes to attain the

objectives of the vision 20:2020 of the Yar’adua/Goodluck

administration. The administrations aim is to transform

Nigeria into a developed nation to the position of being at

least the 20th economy in the world by the year 2020. This is

given to the fact that the current (and in the reasonably

foreseeable future) global economic order is dominantly

capitalist.

Therefore, for any country to prosper with this system, more i

terms of goods and services must leave its shores than comes

in, and more in terms of money and infrastructure being put

into a country than being put out. That is, what all players

in the global scene will be competing against each other to

attain. In such a competition, success is achieved through the

quality of goods produced and efficiency of services rendered.

However, the question one may rationally asked is this- Is

Nigeria or better still the Good Luck regime, capable of

enunciating the requisite policies and creating the essential

skills and conditions to transform Nigeria competitive drive

to the level of attaining a 20th position in the operating

world economic order within the next eight (8) years? Would

the level of poverty and corruption allow the system to attain

its mandate? In fact, before responding to the aforementioned

question, let us- i. Have the ability to compete favourably

against foreign competitors, ii. Must have at least 20

companies competing favorably in the delivery of quality goods

and efficient services with first 20 companies in the world

for example:

Nigerian Metallurgical companies, Nigerian pharmaceutical

companies, Nigerian construction companies, Nigerian oil and

gas companies, Nigerian banking companies, Nigerian Insurance

companies, Nigerian automobile companies, Nigerian shipping

lines, Nigerian air lines, Nigerian tourists companies,

Nigerian consulting firms, Nigerian communication companies,

Nigerian agricultural companies, Nigerian textile industries

and such other similar corporations (20 of them) investing and

competing favorably in their business. In USA, China, Japan,

Germany, California, Britain, France, Canada, India, Brazil,

Sweden, Russia, Australia, New York state, Holland, Denmark,

Ireland, South Korea, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy,

Belgium, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Israel, Indonesia,

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirate, among others.

Indeed, such Nigerian companies must be able to get onto the

soils of these countries and compete favorably there (breaking

even or simply put making profit). Umar, (2012) argued that,

Nigeria has no functional air carrier, no national shipping

line, no functional railway line, no functional railway line,

inadequate power supply, no functional refineries, no iron and

steel industries, bad road network and no inland water ways.

All of these have been attempted by past government with

colossal amount of billions of dollars expended, yet with our

rich aptitudes and talents of large populations, huge physical

energy reserve and abundant untapped natural resources,

Nigeria can seize the positives of good governance to overcome

its challenges and attain rapid material development. This can

be achieved by getting these talents expressed, the energy

realized and those resources harnessed. We want to believe

this to be the key solution to Nigeria’s development problem

in the new global reality.

Moreover, the breakdown of President Good Luck Jonathan’s

Transformation agenda, with which he hopes to turn the country

among the best in the world by the end of his tenure in 2015.

The report is based on a summary of the Federal Government‘s

key priority policies, programmes and projects coordinated by

the National Planning Commission-NPC (Usigbe, 2011). He

buttressed that, President Jonathan rode to power on the back

of a promised transformation agenda, which he is virtually set

to get off the ground. Throughout his campaign, he refrained

from making specific pledges, only speaking in the main, about

his intention to change the ways things were done and give the

country a new sense of direction. It was a situation that left

the transformation agenda in an abstract form in the minds of

many Nigerians. But now, it would appear that the agenda has

been properly articulated and can be accessed by interested

citizens. The transformation agenda is planned for between

2011 and 2015, which is the duration of the president

administration and it is necessitated by the need to correct

the flaws in the country’s derive development where there is

absence of long-term perspective, and lack of continuity,

consistency and commitment (3cs) to agreed policies.

According to the Jonathan’s administration, the disregard for

the 3cs has resulted in rising unemployment, inequality, and

poverty and it is therefore hard pressed to come with a

holistic transformation of the Nigerian state with a strategy

that gives cognizance to these 3cs in the duration of the

administration. Looking at the current effort of his

administration it seems the 3cs are still left behind in which

they claim that previous administration was not implementing

them.

Poverty according to Daniel, (2005), an appropriate poverty

strategy should: a) provide all persons with the opportunity

to earn a sustainable livelihood; b) implement policies and

strategies that promote adequate and sustainable levels of

funding, and focus on integrated human development policies,

including income generation, increased local control of

resources, local institution strengthening capacity-building,

greater involvement of non-governmental organizations and

local levels of government as delivery mechanisms; c) develop

all poverty-stricken areas through integrated strategies and

programmes of sound and sustainable management of the

environment, resource mobilization, poverty eradication and

alleviation, employment and income generation; d) create a

focus in National development plans and budgets on poverty

alleviation in human capital, with special policies and

programmes directed at rural areas, the urban poor, women, and

children; e) establish appropriate infrastructure and support

system to facilitate the alleviation of poverty by

implementing projects, programmes, enterprises, and life

styles sustainable at the grass roots level.

Poverty will remain an obstacle in achieving the current

administration transformation agenda. The following are some

of the factors why poverty persists in the country:

1. Poor macro-economic and monetary policies – These have

contributed to high poverty rate. The Nigerian naira that

used to exchange for 1.20 Naira to one British Pound in

1986, now exchanges for 240 Naira. The outcome has made

it almost impossible for small and medium enterprises

(SMEs) to thrive, which would have contributed to the

reduction of poverty through job creation.

2. Globalization – This means trade liberalization. Nations

are supposed to trade freely amongst themselves for the

mutual benefits of their people. As for Nigeria, there

are only two major goods that could be marketed – crude

oil and agricultural produce. The latter is totally

neglected with the discovery of the former in a

commercial quantity. The gains of globalization as

currently being enjoyed by developed nations seem to be

eluding Nigeria because of her inability to export

manufactured goods abroad like other developed nations.

3. Good Governance - Nigeria is yet to experience good

governance, this has deprived her people the dividends of

democracy. Policies of government are still being

formulated without due consideration to the welfare of

citizens, the outcome of which is further poverty.

Nigeria has tried different reforms agenda with resultant poor

outcomes, especially when viewed either against available

natural and human resources or the performance of other

countries with less potentials like Nigeria that have done

better (Duru, 2011). Nigeria needs leaders that has nation at

heart who will ensure good governance and seen the nation

reached its potentials.

EVALUATION OF THE REFORM AGENDA

According to Clemens & Xinshen (2008), it is commonly agreed

that the process of economic development is characterized by a

period of rapid per capita growth combined with structural

change. While structural change can be defined as an

alteration in the relative importance of

economic sectors, the interrelated processes of structural

change that accompany economic development are jointly

referred to as economic transformation. Thus, transformation

involves the modernization of a country’s economy, society, and

institutions. Economic transformation has fundamental impacts

on human life, and sociologists emphasize the important role

of changing values, norms, beliefs, and customs in the

transformation from a traditional to a modern society.

Clemens & Xinshen however said, Many development economists

summarize the sources of transformation into different groups,

but these groups are often interlinked and sometimes hard to

separate. Based on a review of the development economics

literature of the past 40 to 50 years, we group the sources of

transformation into four different aspects and focus on

different authors’ views on the roles of these aspects in the

transformation process. These processes are Technology-Led

Productivity Growth, rapid capital accumulation, role of

linkages and the role of markets, institutions, and

governments in transformation. Therefore, Economic

transformation, as part of development, can be defined as a

dynamic process through which a country’s economy, society,

and institutions modernize and move to more developed levels.

According to Business day, (2012) the need for the reform in

Nigeria arises due to the fact that, there is need to re-

position the country’s drive to development in the critical

spheres of the economy hinged on the rule of law, where

equality, peace and justice shall reign. In order to achieve

these challenges, the President, upon assumption of office,

assembled a vibrant team of renowned technocrats called the

Economic Management Team to midwife and drive the process

through to a successful end. According to Emmanuel, (2012) the

team is made up of a 28 member headed by the president as

Chairman, the vice president Namadi Sambo and the minister of

Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, as coordinator. The whole

essence of the agenda is in pursuance of collective national

goals and aspirations towards driving Nigeria into the comity

of the 20 largest economies by 2020.

The transformation agenda of president Good Luck is meant to

touch on every aspect of the socio-economic and political life

of the citizenry. There is no doubt that reform agenda had

made some impact, if nothing else Nigerians are now engaged in

debates and discussions about the reform agenda. It is amazing

to note that despite the claims by many authors of the reform

agenda that it had a wide consultative participatory process,

the truth is that most Nigerians are now oblivious of the

reform agenda (Duru, 2011). The reform agenda had not been

able to re-orientate the average Nigerian. This is because

they were not involved in the process of articulating and

formulating the reform agenda.

Institutional building is necessary for bringing forth the

potential benefits of economic reform and sustaining such

benefits. The emphasis on institution building points to the

ability to take account of local conditions in policy

formulation as a key to success. But in Nigeria there is no

continuity of policies and no sustainability of such reforms

because we have been very inconsistent with reforms, moving

from one ad-hoc policy to another. For example, availability

of electricity is a critical ingredient for economic and

industrial development of any nation. Our economy is day-light

economy where people work only in the day time (8am – 4pm).

This contributes to the high cost of production in the

economy, which makes our product uncompetitive in the global

market. The various reform agenda hinges the growth of the

economy on private investment and that the government will

provide an enabling environment to generate investors’

confidence and attract greater flow of foreign direct

investment (FDI) with Nigerians playing a key role.

Maintaining law and order should be the cornerstone of any

reform agenda.

Labour markets play a very crucial role in determining

macroeconomic success of economic reform policies and in

mediating the impact of these policies on the population’s

standard of living. Unemployment problem in Nigeria can be

traced to diverse but mutually re-enforcing factors such as

rapid population growth, rapid expansion of the educational

system, improper design of the educational system to match

education with employment opportunities, rural urban

migration, the nature of production technique, government

contractionary economic policies and the existence of barrier

to smooth inter-regional and inter-state movement are some of

the problems in Nigeria’s labour market. Therefore, The

Nigerian economic agenda so far has been anti labour. It

cannot provide the necessary condition for enhancing

employment generation, especially with such policies like

privatization of government enterprises, where workers have

been rationalized by the so called new owners (investors)

without paying the entitlements of such workers, worse still,

such privatized enterprises are not functioning optimally

either. In the public service, we hear about downsizing and

rightsizing, all these gimmicks boils down to sacking of

workers and compounding the unemployment problem in Nigeria.

Notwithstanding according to the office of special adviser to

the president on research, documentation and strategy, (2013)

highlights president Goodluck administration’s achievements in

the last two years which among others are:

i. Power:

1. Launch of the Roadmap for Power Sector Reform. The

Roadmap launched sets out a clear implementation

plan of the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act

(2005) as a reaffirmation of the commitment to

resolve the power crises and setting the path for

power sector Improvement.

2. The Re-instatement of the Nigerian Electricity

Regulatory Commission. The regulatory body was

strengthened with a new Chairman and Commissioners

sworn in for the purpose of providing appropriate

regulatory functions for the electricity market in

Nigeria.

3. Creation of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading

Plc. The President inaugurated the CEO and board of

the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (also

known as the Bulk Trader) in August 2011. The

requisite environment for private sector investment

in the Nigerian Power Sector has been created by

establishing a credit-worthy offtaker of power, NBET

Plc, who provides confidence to the power generating

companies that they will be paid for power produced.

ii. Agriculture:

1. In 2012 14 new rice mills with capacity to process

240 metric tons of rice were set up by the private

sector while in addition, a sum of 1.2 billion

dollars was secured by the Federal Government to

install 100 large scale rice processing mills to

produce 2.1 million metric tons of rice annually.

2. his and other initiatives of government in 2012

resulted in the creation of about two million new

jobs among rural dwellers. In 2013, the Federal

Government will implement a Young Graduates

Commercial Farmers Scheme, which will absorb 780,000

graduates in its first phase and provide an

estimated four million jobs in the agricultural

sector in the first year.

3. The Jonathan administration is resuscitating the

production of Cotton particularly in the Northeast

and Northwest zones of Nigeria through the provision

of improved cotton seedlings, which have been given

free of charge to farmers. This will definitely

result in the resuscitation of the upstream and

downstream cotton/textile subsector before the end

of 2013.

iii. Roads:

1. The Ministry of Works on the order of President

Jonathan unveiled Operation Safe Passage, a

programme aimed at recovering deplorable sections of

major roads in the country to ameliorate the

sufferings usually experienced by road users during

festive seasons. Under this programme, key roads in

the six geo-political zones of the country, were

rehabilitated.

2. The radical intervention by the Subsidy Reinvestment

Programme SURE-P in the road sector in 2012 resulted

in accelerated work on the rehabilitation of the

following projects: Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja; Benin-Ore-

Sagamu dual carriageway; Onitsha-Enugu-Port Harcourt

dual carriageway; Kaduna-Maiduguri dual carriageway;

East-West Road The Second Niger Bridge for which a

sum of five billion naira has been set aside. These

roads cover a distance of 1,664 kilometres and are

at various stages of completion. Most of these

projects are due for completion and commissioning in

this year.

3. As a major turnaround Federal Government also

terminated the concessioning agreement with Bi

Courtney company on the rehabilitation and

reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The

road rehabilitation work is currently been handled

by two construction firms and will be completed this

year.

iv. Aviation:

1. The administration at the end of 2011 earmarked 22

airports for rehabilitation and reconstruction and

by the end of October 2012, over 50 percent had been

commissioned for public use with. The remaining

eleven would be completed in 2013.

2. In addition to remodeling, the Jonathan

administration has approved the sum of N106 billion

for the construction of five new airport terminals

in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Enugu as

well as six cargo terminals to be managed under a

Public Private Partnership (PPP) Scheme.

v. Transportation:

1. The Jonathan administration inaugurated the Lagos-

Kano train service, which had been moribund for

almost a decade. This is a major feat considering

the long years of decay in the rail transportation

sector.

2. The Eastern rail line from Port Harcourt to

Maiduguri is being rehabilitated as well as the

fixing of the Zaria/Kaura Namoda rail route.

3. The Federal Government has completed three

feasibility studies and commissioned three others to

open new railway corridors, which will be

concessioned to local and foreign investors. An

unprecedented investment of 200 billion dollars will

flow into the Nigerian economy through these

concessions in 2013 and 2014 with over 10 million

new jobs of skilled and unskilled laborers

(engineers, technicians, machinists, accountants)

created in the next two years.

vi. Sure-P projects:

1. In 2012 N9 billion was spent By the Subsidy Removal

and Re-Investment Programme (SURE-P)on: 500 Primary

Health Centres (PHC) across the 36 states and FCT of

the Federation. Employment and deployment of skilled

Health Workers- Midwives, Community Health Workers

(CHEWs), and Village Health Workers (VHWs).

Upgrading, Equipping and Supplying of Drugs to the

500 PHCs across the six geopolitical zones are being

done. Selection of 125 General Hospitals across the

36 states and the FCT. Equipping and upgrading their

Maternity section to provide comprehensive

intervention for complicated Maternal and Child

cases from the PHCs is being done.

vii. ECONOMY

1. The Jonathan administration’s handling of the

economy led to JP Morgan Chase the reputable

American investment and Securities Company to list

Nigeria on its Government Bond Index-Emerging

Markets (GBI-EM). It is the second African company

after South Africa to be listed. This inclusion of

Nigerian bonds could mean an `inflow of at least

$1.5 million of inflow into Nigeria’s bond market’.

The listing will also improve the profile of

Nigeria’s debt market.

viii. Water:

1. The Jonathan administration has remained committed

to the UN resolution in July 2010 on the “Right to

Water”, which formally acknowledged the right of

every human being to water.

2. Pursuant to this, in February this year it organized

a Presidential Summit on water to seek more

effective ways of preserving national water and make

same available to Nigerians.

3. To check the menace of flooding and prevent a repeat

of the flood disaster experienced last year, the

Federal Ministry of Water Resources recently

released the 2013 Annual Flood Outlook for Nigeria

ix. Pension reforms:

1. Before the Jonathan administration came on board,

the pension funds administration regime was one the

major channels through which public funds running

into hundreds of billions of Naira are

misappropriated by corrupt officials.

x. Oil and gas reforms:

1. In line with global best practices and the principal

aim of the Nigerian Extractive industry and

Transparency Initiative (NEITI), President Jonathan

recently forwarded the Petroleum Industry Bill to

the National Assembly for passage into law.

2. By the time the Petroleum Industry Bill is passed

into law, Nigeria would have successfully broken the

jinx of being a Nation where global business rules

and practices are flouted with impunity. Estimated

annual earnings of 680 billion dollars would be

added to our Gross Domestic product. Crude oil theft

and other sharp practices are also being combated

with much vigor by various security and regulatory

agencies on the president’s instructions.

METHODOLOGY

The paper use survey research design and primary and secondary

data were used through questionnaire and review of related

literature. A cross local government survey was conducted

based on the senatorial zones of Kaduna state (that is North,

Central and South senatorial zones). Two local government were

selected each using stratified sampling technique (that is,

Zaria, Kubau, Igabi, Birnin Gari, Jaba and sanga) from zone 1,

2 and 3 respectively. Structured questionnaires were employed

to collect information which was analyzed using various

statistical tools such as tables, simple percentages, and

frequencies. Fifty (50) people were selected making three

hundred (300) for the six local governments.

DISCUSSIONS OF FINDINGS

The study collected 273 questionnaires form respondent of all

the local government. This mean 27 were not returned. Having

received the responds of questionnaires, below are the summary

of the responds

Table 4.1 Do you know what transformation agenda is all about?

Items Number Percentage (%)Yes 72 74No 201 26Total 273 100Source: Questionnaire administered, 2013

From table 4.1 201 respondents representing 74% of the total

respondents said they don’t know what the concept of

transformation agenda means while 72 respondents representing

26% knows what the concept means.

Table 4.2 Do you know the sectors that government geared its

attention for the reform agenda?

Items Number Percentage (%)

Yes 25 91No 248 9Total 273 100Source: Questionnaire administered, 2013

Table 4.2 above shows that, 248 respondents representing 91%

do not know the sectors in which government focused on its

transformation agenda while 25 respondent representing 9%

knows the sectors in which government targeted.

Table 4.3 Are you satisfied with the current development of

the reform agenda?

Items Number Percentage (%)Yes 47 17No 226 83Total 273 100Source: Questionnaire administered, 2013

In table 4.3 above, it posit that, 226 respondents

representing 83% are not satisfied with the way government is

running the transformation agenda. On the other hand, 47

respondents are convinced with how the reform is carried out.

Table 4.4 Do you think the common man is benefitting from thecurrent reform?Items Number Percentage (%)Yes 14 5No 259 95Total 273 100Source: Questionnaire administered, 2013

From table 4.4 above, majority of the people at lower the

level (that is, poor ones) are not benefitting for the reform

especially the rural dwellers. That is, 259 respondents

representing 95% have the view. On the contrary, 14

respondents representing 5% does not have this view.

Table 4.5 Do you think poverty is a barrier towards government

success in its transformation agenda?

Items Number Percentage (%)Yes 263 96No 10 4Total 273 100Source: Questionnaire administered, 2013

Table 4.5 above, indicate that 263 respondents representing

96% says, poverty is a strong factor that would not allow the

transformation agenda to succeed. While only 10 respondents

representing 4% are of the view that poverty is not a factor.

Table 4.6 Do you think time should be given to government for

them to deliver?

Items Number Percentage (%)Yes 139 51No 134 49Total 273 100Source: Questionnaire administered, 2013

From table 4.6 above, it shows that 139 respondents

representing 51% are of the view that, time be given to them

with the expectation that they will adjust their weaknesses,

while almost 50% of the respondents (that is, 134 of them)

have contrary view.

Table 4.7 Are you sure that government programme for economic

reform agenda in Nigeria are achievable?

Items Number Percentage (%)Yes 74 27No 199 73Total 273 100Source: Questionnaire administered, 2013

Table 4.7 above posit that, 199 respondents representing 73%

are not sure that government meant to promote economic reform

in Nigeria, while the rest (that is, 74 respondents) have

certainty that, government is really meant the promotion of

economic reform agenda.

Table 4.8 Do you think people handling the reform process are

equal to the task?

Items Number Percentage (%)Yes 2 1No 271 99Total 273 100Source: Questionnaire administered, 2013

In table 4.8 above, 271 respondents representing 99% said,

those in the helm of the transformation agenda are not

competent enough, while 2 respondents are on the contrary

opinion.

It is evident from the empirical study that majority of

Nigerians are illiterate on the activities of government and

since majority are living below the poverty line, emphasis is

much towards looking at what to do in order to sustain their

life. It was pronounced over the international media that

Nigeria is the first in terms of people that have not been

able to attend school and for this reasons, they may not know

areas in which government give emphasis on its transformation.

Majority of Nigerians are not happy with the government in

power. This is due to the fact that, the level of poverty is

on the increase days in days out.

However, the study made us to understand that, among the two

types of poverty (that is, case and insular poverty) the

latter is what majority of Nigerians are experiencing. Those

in power are not ready to assist the poor. In fact one if you

finish school and have nobody at the top or he doesnt have

money to buy the offer, then he will die in poverty.

Therefore, common man is not benefitting from the reform.

Moreover, empirical evidence and from the look of things,

majority of people in government do not have Nigeria in mind,

but rather enriching themselves at the expense of masses.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

There is no doubt that the Transformation Agenda of President

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a bold step towards revamping the

ailing socio-economy life of the country. However, the

challenges pointed out will no doubt significantly limit the

attainment of this laudable desired ends, poverty inclusive.

There is therefore the need to consciously, deliberately, and

boldly exploit the opportunities and strengths available to

the government, while simultaneously reduce the threats and

challenges that have been identified. Most importantly, some

fundamental measures need to be taken in the thinking and

actions of the leadership of the country. This, in essence

involves looking inward into the value orientation of the

people to reduce to the barest limit, elements of greed,

materialism, opportunism and exploitation. There is the need

also for a radical development strategy that guarantees

inclusiveness as opposed to exclusiveness in governance and

that is people-driven from conception to implementation. This

development strategy must be sustainable with the genuine

desire to end poverty, provide productive employment, and

satisfy basic needs of all categories of citizens and fair

sharing of surplus value. This is the sure way to a realistic

Transformation Agenda. The study base on literatures and

empirical evidences concludes that, poverty significantly

affect the transformation agenda. The study however recommends

that:

1. Nigeria needs a rebirth, a re-orientation especially

about the ways we have been doing things in the past. We

need to have a clear focus and goals, and be committed as

a nation in actualizing these goals. We must begin by

articulating what our basic needs are. What are the

strategic interests of the country? How can we use our

human and material resources to meet our basic needs and

actualize our strategic interests? The government should

initiate a reform agenda that is truly Nigerian.

Nigerians must participate fully in the process of

designing, formulating, and the implementation of such

reform agenda.

2. The Nigerian economy needs to place emphasis on the

development of the basic sectors, including agriculture,

manufacturing, education, the railway system, and

infrastructural facilities. We should stop

copying/imitating what the developed countries are doing

and also stop accepting these policies/advices hook and

sinker. What they are prescribing to us as reform agenda

may not work here because our needs and interests are not

the same with theirs. Diversification of the economy is

necessary. We must go back to agriculture that is where

our comparative advantage lies – we have land and labour

in abundance, the right weather that can grow all crops

and vegetable all year round. Nigeria should mechanize

its agricultural production; make it attractive to the

youths by providing incentives and subsidies and

granteeing the markets for their products.

3. The provision of a stable macro-economic framework and

economic institutions which would be based on the free

market and global competitive principles, and fostering

high domestic savings and investment. The government

should create a stable political environment to foster

long term commitments by investors both local and

foreign. The security situation in the country need

greater and urgent attention as it provides the first

measure of the country’s image and its readiness to

attract and promote investments.

4. Transparency and accountability in governance and public

finance are essential attributes of a democratic system

of government. There is the urgent need for an all-out

fight to contain the scourge of corruption which has not

only tarnished the image of the country, but has also

increased the cost of governance and that of doing

business in the country. The National Assembly should

enact Laws that will encourage the building of strong

institutions and structures that will foster good

governance and the rule of law.

5. Lastly the educational system in the country requires

urgent surgical review to enhance capacity building and

skill acquisition. Emphasis should be on entrepreneurship

development and technical skill development. The economy

should be knowledge driven and the educational sector

should be well funded for it to be responsive to the need

of the society.

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