Effect of poverty eradication strategies on improved wellbeing of rural Nigeria: A review

Despite the various poverty eradication/alleviation programmes and strategies adopted by various governments in Nigeria, over 93 million Nigerians still live in poverty, with at least three million sliding into extreme poverty between November 2018 and February 2019 (Olayinka, 2019). This is a clear indication of the ineffectiveness of these policies and programmes, which is attributable to corruption, high level of inequality in income distribution, low literacy rate and poor skill set, political instability, and poor leadership. The major challenge every responsive and responsible government must contend with is to make life better and more meaningful to the citizenry irrespective of whether such government is a democratic one or a military dictator if the regime is to have relevance and continue to enjoy legitimacy in the eyes of the governed. Every successive government since independence has put up one strategy or the other aimed at eradicating the sufferings of the people and put smiles on the faces of the governed. This paper critically examined the various poverty eradication programmes, reforms and strategies, which had been undertaken by successive Nigerian governments and the reasons behind the success/failure of these programmes. The paper articulated and proffered useful strategies that if faithfully implemented would lead the nation out of the present dungeon of poverty and set the nation on the right map of sustainable economic development and not just on economic growth which it has persistently witnessed over the years.