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Economics and Finance Review 1(1): 15-24, March, 2011
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NATIONAL ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY &
POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA: A CRITIQUE
Abdu Ja’afaruBambale
M. Sc (Economics), MBA, B. Sc (Business Administration),
Department of Business Administration,
Bayero University, Kano.
ABSTRACT
Poverty is one of the most common characteristics of the third world countries including Nigeria. National
Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) is a reform agenda by Nigerian Government
modeled on the IMF’s poverty reduction and growth facility to achieve some macroeconomic goals of stability,
poverty alleviation, wealth creation, and employmentgeneration. This paper investigates the extent to which the
goal of poverty reduction has been achieved after the first phase of its implementation (2004-2007).The paper
adopted the content analysis of library materials, publications and other documented researches pertaining to
the subject-matter. The paper concludes that NEEDS has not made a significant impact on Nigeria’s
infrastructures and standard of living of the majority and therefore status of poverty remain at an alarming rate.
The failure of NEEDS to significantly generate employment and reduce poverty has been attributed largelyto
weak institutional frameworks andlack of political will in the Nigerian state. To achieve poverty reduction and
economic progress in Nigeria, majority of Nigerians must have access to quality education and the leadership
must be truly committed to the economic reform agenda by encouraging development of stronger State
institutions and creating an enabling investment environment.
Keywords: Poverty Reduction, Employment, Reform Program, Wealth Creation
Christianity. A few portion of the population
1. INTRODUCTION
practice traditional religion.
Nigeria is a Federal Republic comprising of thirtysix states and a Federal Capital Territory,
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the
Abujawith an estimated population figure of 154.7
eighth most populous country in the world, and the
million people (UNDP, 2009). The country is
most populous country in the world in which the
located in the West of Africa and shares land
majority of the population is black (Adelakun,
borders with four countries including the Republic
2008). It is a member of the United Nations and
of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the
Commonwealth countries. It is also a very
east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south
influential member of African Union (AU) and
lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean.
Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS)
Nigeria has three major ethnic groups called Hausa,
among
Igbo and Yoruba. In terms of religion the country
organizations.
has
two
dominant
religions
–
Islam
and
© Global Research Society, 2011
other
international
Nigeria‟s
and
economy
regional
has
been
described as one of the fastest growing in the world
15
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(IMF, 2008; Ayodele, 2008; Atser, 2008). It is the
report that more than 70% of the Nigerian
third greatest economy in Africa and the largest
population lives in poverty despite the country's
exporter of oil in Africa (Spencer, 2010).
enormous resources.Nigeria has a low per capita
income which is an indication of the existence of
At the time of Nigeria‟s political independence in
poverty among its citizens. The per capita income
1960, agriculture was the main stay of the
has experienced a sustained retrogression for more
economy, accounting for about 70 percent of the
than 2 decades, for example the per capita GNP in
GDP and about 90 percent of foreign exchange
Nigeria was estimated at US$1,000 in 1977 (Kirk-
earnings. Manufacturing, which contributed 3.9
Green and Rimer, 1981) dropped to US$800 by
percent in 1960/61, reached a peak of about 10
1982, it fell to US$359 in 1986 (Fadahunsi, 1993)
percent in 1981 and thereafter started to decline
and fell further to US$90 in 2000 (Obasi, 2000).
progressively to lowest level of 2.57 percent in
2006. Crude oil became dominant in the Nigerian
After the successful transition to civil rule on May
economy, starting from 1970s and presently
29th1999,
accounts for about 40 percent of GDP, over 95
OlusegunObasanjo, stated the need for reform
percent of foreign exchange earnings, and over 70
because of the myriad socio-economic problems
percent of Federal Government revenue source
that
(Chinedu, Titus and Thaddeu, 2010).Since her
Government, the economy was overburdened with
independence in 1960, Nigeria‟s economy has been
problems such as an energy crisis manifested in
a
over
widespread scarcity of petroleum products and
dependence on agriculture to over dependence on
erratic power supply; high fiscal deficits which
crude petroleum. Over dependence on a single
threw macroeconomic fundamentals out of order
primary product (crude oil) has made the Nigerian
and a near total collapse of infrastructure and
economy to be volatile and susceptible to
services. The economy was experiencing low
vulnerabilities in the global market environment.
industrial outputs, high unemployment and a
Therefore, the recent economic reforms (NEEDS)
crushing debt burden (Obasanjo, 1999). The
introduced after 13 years of military rule target
President therefore launched a series of economic
restructuring
value
reforms in March 2004 designed to address the
reorientation, privatization and diversification of
structural and institutional weaknesses of the
the economy.
Nigerian economy. The economic reform package
mono-cultural
the
one,
moving
economy
from
through
the
engulfed
then
Nigeria.
President
According
Chief
to
the
includes acceleration of privatization, deregulation
Unfortunately, despite the country‟s vast oil wealth
and liberalization of key sectors of the economy,
andabundant human resources, endemic corruption
monetary
and mismanagement of thenation‟s resources as a
development,
result
to
accountability and institutionalization of anti-
undermine country‟s economic development and
corruption machineries as key factors of good
social integration (Adogamhe, 2007; Bambale,
governance (Adogamhe, 2007).
poor
leadership,
have
continued
and
fiscal
reforms,
infrastructural
enhancedtransparency
and
2005). The country continues to plunge in to
poverty and its attendant consequences. In line with
President Obasanjo‟s administration stated that the
that argument Nwokeoma (2010) and WB (2010)
new reform programs have been condensed in what
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Economics and Finance Review 1(1): 15-24, March, 2011
they
called
economic
Economic
an
all-embracing
program
known
Empowerment
Strategy (NEEDS).
as
home-grown
the
and
Development
poverty reduction in Nigeria. The paper presents
diverse areas of the Nigerian economy where the
Government
reform
package
(NEEDS)
has
Government
recorded tremendous achievement during its first
alsoseeks an effective economic coordination of
phase (2004-2007). Similarly, the paper makes a
and a close collaboration with the state and
critique of the reform agenda using various
localGovernments by encouraging them to design
stakeholders‟ standpoints and assessments of the
and implement equivalent programs based on
performance of the neoliberal economic reform
theNEEDS model with acronyms including State
package. Therefore, as the methodology, the paper
Economic
uses research papers and views expressed about the
Strategy
The federal
National
www.efr.businessjournalz.org
Empowerment
(SEEDS)
Empowerment
and
and
and
Development
Local
Economic
reforms‟
problems
and
failure
Strategy
documented in published journals and e-resources.
(LEEDS) respectively.The NEEDS program which
It is observable, therefore, that the paper tries to
was modeled from the IMF‟s Poverty Reduction
present a balanced reports and analysis of the
and Growth Facility (Adogamhe, 2007) was
performance of the NEEDS. This paper is unique in
specifically designed to lay a solid foundation for
the sense that it provided a balanced review of
sustainable
employment
NEEDS‟ performance using a lot of statistical data
generation, wealth creation, and value-oriented
and diverse stakeholder assessments. Conclusively,
economy (Obasanjo, 2004). The poverty reduction
using the diverse outcomes and viewpoints
and wealth creation were dependent on the private
expressed, the paper proposes some solutions for
sector to grow the economy and provide jobs and
effective poverty reduction reforms.
poverty
Development
economic
reduction,
on the public sector to provide an enabling
environment for development” (Okonjo-Iweala,
2. NEO-LIBERALISM AND NEEDS:
2005).
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
There was a high expectation that the new
economic reform could fix the socio-economic
Some nation states perform better economically
problem that bedeviled Nigeria for a long period
than
considering its scope, comprehensiveness and
development. There are predominantly two major
reorientation potentials it portrays. It could be
economic
deduced easily from program papers that NEEDS
conservative economic paradigm and neo-liberal
differs significantly from the past similar economic
paradigm. The conservative approach accepts the
policy Nigeria had in the mid 1980 called
state as the agent of economic development (Evans,
Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) as it is
Rueschemeyer and Skocpol, 1985; Streeten,1992;
thought to be more comprehensive, realistic, and
Kohli, 2004) while the neo-liberal paradigm tends
better coordinated and tends to reflect the input of
to discourage or minimize the role of State in
the country‟s stakeholders.
performing business activities (World Bank,1987
others
in
bringing
paradigms,
about
namely
the
growth
statist
or
or
and 1991; Williamson,1998; Gore, 2000).The
The objective of this paper is to provide a critical
theoretical debates therefore thrive along those who
review of the performance of NEEDS in respect to
view the state as the key economic player and
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Economics and Finance Review 1(1): 15-24, March, 2011
www.efr.businessjournalz.org
engine of economic development and the neo-
services likeeducation, health and environmental
liberal or pro-market school who believe in
protection” (Obasanjo, 1999). It was well argued
minimizing the role of the state in the process of
by
economic development.
positively correlate with improved macroeconomic
neoliberal
economists
that
privatization
performance and real higher GDP growth. Hence
The NEEDS was conceived within the framework
other things being equal, there would be increase in
of neo-liberal economic order that limits the role of
the levels of incomes and employment and
Government ownership of productive resources.
reduction of poverty (Barnett, 2000)
The NEEDS was premised on recognizing the
private sector as the engine of economic growth
2.1.Needs’ Performance Achievements
and that a robust private business initiative is
associated
with
profitability,
efficiency
and
promotion of rapid economic growth. The neoliberal economic order believes that Government
intervention in the economy to conduct business
operations generally threatens private investors‟
incentives because sometimes the goal of the
Government may be to divert efforts and resources
from productive to non-productive activities and
corruptibly redistributes wealth to benefit the ruling
elite rather than further investment in business
operations for the realization of greater capital
surplus (Adogamhe, 2007). Therefore, NEEDS has
been anchored to return business to private
investors by creating an enabling environment for
the private sector to thrive and to restructure the
State by making it smaller, stronger, better skilled,
and capable of providing essential services that
promote an effective and efficient market.One core
component of NEEDS is the transfer of state
ownedenterprises to capital owners and thus
privatization
has
become
thepillar
of
Nigeria‟seconomic reform. The architect of the
reform agenda, former President Obasanjo stated
“privatization permitsGovernments to concentrate
resources
on
their
core
functions
and
responsibilities, whileenforcing the rule of the
game so that the market can work efficiently with
provision
ofadequate
security
and
basic
infrastructure as well as ensuring access to key
The Nigerian Government and the IMF were
conspicuous in explaining the achievements of the
neoliberal reform agenda (NEEDS) in the economy
that hitherto operated an economy that Government
was a major player. The achievements of the
reforms
have
stabilization
centered
of
the
on
macroeconomic
Nigerian
economy
by
improvingbudgetary planning and execution, and
provided a platform for sustained economic
diversification and non-oil growth (Okonjo-Iweala
and Osafo-Kwaako, 2007). The reform fiscal
policy had enabledaccumulation of government
savings
for
back-up
purposes.
Government
expenditure estimates were based on a prudent oil
price benchmark. Government budgeting was
based on conservative oil prices of $25 per barrel in
2004, $30 per barrel in 2005 and $35 per barrel in
2006, despite higher realized prices of $38.3 and
$54.2 in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and an
estimated average price of $68 for 2006 (IkonjoIweala
and
Osafo-Kwaako,
2007).
This
development had helped in declining government
expenditure from oil revenue earnings. Gross
excess crude saving totaled about $6.35b at the end
of 2004 and about $17.68b by the end of 2005
(CBN, 2006).Additionally, the external reserves
had grown by an annual average rate of about 23%
from US$7.68 billion in 2004 to US$43 billion at
the end of 2006, as against 12.2 percent target
(IMF, 2007).
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US$5b in 2006. This was a positive development to
Statistics provided by the IMF (2007) indicated
Nigerianeconomy that hithertowas overridden by
Nigeria had experienced growth in virtually all its
internal and external debts.
sectors of the economy during the first phase of
NEEDS‟s implementation. Real GDP annual
In order to address the structural constraints to
growth rate averaged 6.6 percent (2004-2006) as
growth, state-owned enterprises which were largely
against the annual target of 6.0 percent;phenomenal
considered unproductive, corruption-ridden and a
growth in the net in-flow of foreign direct
drain on scarce public resources, were privatized.
investment
investment
The reform program which included deregulation
particularly in the banking and telecommunications
of telecommunication sector for example, had
sectors was achieved.The FDI rose fromUS$1.866b
attracted over US$1b a year in investment in the
in 2004 to US$2.3b and US$4.8b in 2005 and 2006
four-year period of the NEEDS‟s first phase
respectively.However, the oil sector annual growth
resulting in increase in the number of telephone
rate averaged 0.23 percent as against 0.0 percent
lines from about 500,000 landlines in 2001 to over
targeted in the period 2004–2006 while the non-oil
32 million GMS lines. That had made Nigeria to
sector average annual growth rate was 8.2 percent
become one of the countries with the fastest
as against the NEEDS target of 8.0percent between
growing teledensity in the world (Okonjo-Iweala
2004 and 2006.
and Osafo-Kwaako, 2007)
The domestic and foreign debt profile had
Other economic spheres where NEEDS had
Nigeria‟s
recorded appreciable achievement include fiscal
reform
and monetary policies. Public spending was
programme, Nigeria was able to pay its debts
reduced from 47.0 percent in 2001 to 35.4 percent
arrears owed to some International Finance
in 2004 which resulted to budget surplus of 7.7
Institutions (IFIs) particularly the Paris and London
percent of GDP for 2004, up from deficits of 4-5
Clubsvia: (1) Direct repayment where $6.4b was
percent of GDP in 2002-2003 (USAID, 2006). The
paid (2) Debt buy back arrangement where $8b was
supply of money declined from an annual rate of
settled at 25% discount, and (3) Debts write-off
24.1 percent in 2003 to 14.0 percent in 2004. This
where $16b was written-off by the creditors. The
restraining monetary policy, along with fiscal
entire Paris Club debt relief enjoyed by Nigeria
restraint and the policy of putting the excess crude
totaledUS$18b, or a 60% for a US$12.4b payment
oil revenues into reserves led to reduction of
of arrears and buyback. Similarly, the debts owed
inflation from an average of 18.5 percent in 2001-
to London club commercial creditorswere also
2003
restructured and paid off. The domestic debts
2005(Adogamhe, 2007).
constituted
(FDI)
another
macroeconomic
and
portfolio
constraint
stability.
Under
on
the
to
an
estimated
10.1
percent
in
constituting about 12% of GDP in 2005, owed to
contractors and civil service pensioners were
The banking sector was among the sectors of the
systematically paid(Okonjo-Iweala and Osafo-
Nigerian economy that got a boost from the
Kwaako, 2007; IMF Report 2007). Furthermore,
implementation of NEEDS. The new rules of
IMF (2007) claims that Nigeria‟s total external debt
recapitalization and restructuring exercise had
stock had reduced from over US$30b to less than
made it possible for the Nigerian banking sector to
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become stronger to support industrial growth and
Federal Capital Territory, as well as the 774 Local
reduce the rate of bank failure in Nigeria. Market
Governments. Furthermore, as part of governance
capitalization, which stood at N285.8b in 1996 rose
and
to N2.9tin 2005. The mergers and acquisitions of
Government introduced two institutions to tackle
banks that followed the banking restructuring and
corruption in the domestic official and business
consolidation hadprovided the desired synergy for
environments;
faster and easier growth of the private sector
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the
(Adogamhe, 2007).In the civil service sector, the
Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related
reform considered the civil service as over-sized,
Offences Commission (ICPC). Through these
poorly remunerated, corrupt and under-skilled,
institutions, there had been more than 500
resulting
delivery.
convictions and many are awaiting trial for various
Therationalization policy of the reform therefore
corruption practices and assets worth over $5b had
weeded out a total of 35,700 redundant workers
been seized, confiscated and refunded to the State
which resulted to saving the Government an
and other victims of crime (Okonjo-Iweala and
estimated cost of about N26b, while 1,000
Osafo-Kwaako,
university graduates were recruited. Also the public
recovered from N747b granted indiscriminately
service wages were increased by15% and fringe
without following the due process (Waziri, 2010).
in
poor
service
institutional
reform
these
are
achievements,
the
2007).Recently
Economic
N66.7b
the
and
was
benefits including house and cars were monetized
and consolidated with basic salaries (Ogbo, 2006).
On governance front, innovative processes that
promoted
anti-corruption,
transparency
and
accountability were put in place. The ECOWAS
Common External Tariff, the simple (unweighted)
average tariff rate was introduced which resulted in
declined tariff rate from 29% to 18%, while the
weighted average tariff rate fell from 25% to 17%.
Also as a result of adopting the „due process
mechanism‟ the trend of losing an average of about
N40b each year from corrupt practices in public
procurement had stopped (Okonjo-Iweala and
Osafo-Kwaako,
2007).
The
mechanism
hadpromoted an open tender process, competitive
costing of contracts, and use of database of
international prices, tender publishing and issuance
of due process certificate. Also a monthly
publication of the state and local government
shares of the Federation Account was introduced in
January 2004, providing details of revenue
allocation to all the 36 state Governments and
3. THE CRITIQUE OF NEEDS
Using economic data and statistics,NEEDS had
recorded tremendous success as indicated in the
precedingpresentation. However, the economic
reform was not free of criticisms from different
stakeholders of the Nigeria‟s economy. Many
individuals
have
maintained
that
available
evidenceshave indicatedsome shortcomings and
failure of NEEDS. Many critics have claimed that
NEEDS instead of ameliorating poverty had
aggravated it and had failed to improve the basic
infrastructures that have direct link to poverty
reduction.The UNDPusing its Human Poverty
Index (HPI) showed an increase in poverty from
34.0 percent to 38.8 percent during the period
2001-2007 (UNDP, 2009). The HPI ranges from 0
(for
no
deprivation)
to
100
(for
extreme
deprivation). Recently, Nigeria ranks 114th with
HPI-1 value of 36.2% among 135 selected
countries (UNDP, 2009). The UNDP‟s HPI-1
measures severe deprivation in health, education
and standard of living. Similarly, in a research
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about how far the globe was doing on poverty and
The privatization process of Nigeria‟s reform
hunger reduction that included 81 countries of the
regime was marked by lack of transparency and
world (Gentilini and Webbb, 2008) found that
institutional capacity, weak private sector, poor
Nigeria was seriously behind when measured
management and absence of popularly acceptable
against a new poverty indicators they called
regulatory framework. The sales of public assets
poverty-hunger index. Specifically, they found that
were mostly without competitive bidding and were
Nigeria had 0.156 values on matching towards
largely sold off to the political class, politically
achieving the Millennium Development Goals
well-connected individuals and family members of
(MDGs) which interprets to mean low. More
political elites (Adogamhe, 2007; Izibili and Aiya,
important revelation about the poverty situation in
2007). Relative to lack of transparency and
Nigeria in their research was the negative values of
institutional
-0.392 and -0.355 on poverty and poverty gap
investigations had revealed the corrupt involvement
composites respectively. The negative values on
of the top two political power holders of Nigerian
the two composites of the poverty and hunger
State in the privatization process. The sum of
index (PHI) were indicators of reversing trends in
$145m was found to be diverted as loans to the
the
reducing
friends of former Nigerian Vice President from the
poverty and poverty gap that formed part of PHI. In
Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
the 81 countries included in the (Gentilini and
Similarly, the investigations have indicted the
Webbb, 2008) robust poverty study, Nigeria was
former Nigerian President of diverting funds from
Nigeria‟s
performance
towards
rd.
ranked 73 in terms of poverty and hunger index.
capacity,
Nigeria‟sSenate
same PTDF for purchase of public assets to the
tune of $27m (Alechenu and Josiah, 2007; Orilade,
The reform measures have left much to be
2007). Specifically, privatization process in Nigeria
desiredon the Nigeria‟s local manufacturing sector.
was manipulated to generate new opportunities for
Harsh business environment has restrained the
rent-seeking and corrupt business practices, in a
performance of local manufacturers in Nigeria. The
manner that undermines rather than enhances
sector confronts with myriad of constraints
economic efficiency (Daily independent editorial,
including acute power shortage, multiple taxations,
16/08/2010).
insecurity of life and property, high interest rate,
poor infrastructure, inefficient port administration,
In spite of the reform structures and institutions
among others leading to more than 45 percent
established by the Government to ensure economic
decline of industrial capacity underutilization and
efficiency, transparency and proper management,
closure of more than 60 percent of industrial
there is enough evidence that the reforms did not
companies (Amanze, 2010). The reforms need to
achieve those noble objectives (Adogamhe, 2007).
be consolidated by different policy measures
Critics and analysts have claimed the corruption is
designed to discourage imports and encourage
on the increase and could not allow any meaningful
greater reliance on the products of domestic
reform such as NEEDS to make impact on the
industries, stimulate local production to contribute
economy. Tilde (2010) reveals that US$16billion
to GDP growth, create more jobs and reduce
was stolen between 2004 and 2007 on electricity
unemployment and poverty.
projects alone. In a similar fashion, from 1997 to
2010 the EFCC puts the economic and financial
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crimes at an approximate sum of N1.2t. In the
the Nigerian State plays its required role as
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2009 report by
provided in the neoliberal economic order of
Transparency International (TI), a global anti-
providing enabling environment, the actualization
corruption watchdog, Nigeria received 2.5 out of a
of poverty reduction would continue to remain a
possible 10 marks, emerged 27th out of the
mirage. Regular and efficient power supply
surveyed 47 nations in sub-Saharan Africa, and
remains the main infrastructure that is required to
33rd out of the 53 countries in Africa. Nigeria's
release the full entrepreneurial energies of Nigerian
CPI index in the span of an eight year period dating
economy. Stable power supply is the basis for
back to 2001 did not improve until 2006 when it
creating
ranked 142nd out of 163 countries. For four years
opportunities
consecutively from 2001 to 2005 Nigeria ranked
economic growth and poverty reduction (Fashola,
second to last in CPI ranking with 1.0 (Edet, 2009).
2010).
more
wealth,
and
providing
unleashing
more
job
unprecedented
With less corruption, many infrastructures will
function and budgeted funds will be spent for the
Although the neoliberal oriented reforms represent
real purpose (Okoh, 2010). Similarly, in his critical
the Government‟srobust and bold attempt to
remark about state of the economy in the era of
reposition the Nigerian economy to achieve
Nigeria‟s reforms, former Head of State, Gen
economic progress, the reforms could be functional
MuhamaduBuhari was reported saying, “Despite
only when the State fulfills its stakeholder role
the enormous funds that have accrued to the
within the premise of a free market economy. The
country in sustained way over a period of thirteen
major obstacles to improving opportunities and
years, Nigeria has never had it so bad. That wealth
capabilities of the poor and reducing their
and the economic growth the Government has been
vulnerabilities contained in the reforms remain at
claiming, has not in any fundamental way
the level of Nigeria‟s leadership where the political
improved the ordinary Nigerians‟ condition in
will and ethical considerations seem to be
terms of literacy, health, nutrition, employment and
lacking.Going by the reform critique, the reforms
physical security” (Jide and Azken, 2007).
substantially benefited only the political class, big
business enterprises, rent seekers and a few local
small and medium scale entrepreneurs.Nigeria
4. CONCLUSION
must have focused leadership and stronger State
institutions for reforms to significantly reduce
Despite the achievements recorded by NEEDS, the
reality indicates that the reforms have left much to
be desired. The basic infrastructures including
water, electricity, education, transportation and
health facilities remain deplorable. In spite of the
increased economic fortune as a result of high
crude oil prices in the international market in the
last 13 years, Nigeria is stillgrouped among poorest
countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with a very high
poverty
level
(UNDP,2009)
and
poverty
and
stimulate
economic
progress.
Corruption, poor state of basic infrastructure and
weakinstitutions remained the major deterrents to
investment, sustainable growth and improvement
insocial welfare(DFID, 2006). Leadership and
stronger institutions for successful neoliberal
reforms including NEEDS could be achieved
through promotion of popular democracy, free and
fair election and quality education.
collapsed
infrastructures (Biereenu-Nnabugwu,2007).Unless
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