Economic Policy Reform & Poverty Alleviation: A Critique of Nigeria's Strategic Plan for Poverty Reduction

Abstract Given the natural and human resources of Nigeria, it is believed that Nigeria has the potential to become the richest nation in Africa. Presently, however, it is estimated that about 70% of the Nigerian population lives in poverty. President Obasanjo, in his second term as the elected President of Nigeria, launched the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (‘NEEDS’). NEEDS is the Nigerian economic recovery plan for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. This study is a careful analysis of ‘NEEDS’ and its implementation in order to discover the extent to which the stated goal of poverty reduction has been achieved in the country. Unfortunately, this study has discovered that because of the apparent disconnect between the government and the poor, and the dichotomy between the rich and the poor, NEEDS appears to be a colossal failure in terms of poverty reduction.