CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Background of the study
Poverty is a global phenomenon that affects continents, nations and peoples differently. It affects people at different depths and at different levels, at different times and at different stages of their lives. No nation is absolutely without poverty. The main difference is the intensity and prevalence of this disease. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America currently have the highest levels of poverty and, consequently, the lowest socio-economic development.
They also experience the highest levels of social insecurity, violence, riots and a generally unacceptable standard of living. The Central Bank of Nigeria (1999: 1) considers poverty as "a state in which an individual is unable to adequately meet his basic food and clothing needs. The World Bank (2000: 1) used an inductive approach to uncover various dimensions of poverty such as well-being, psychology, basic infrastructure, disease, and wealth. One of these definitions is "the absence of goods necessary for material well-being, especially foodstuffs, but also housing, land and other goods.
In other words, poverty is the lack of multiple resources leading to hunger and physical deprivation. "Another definition is" the lack of voice, power and independence they exploit. Their poverty makes them vulnerable to rudeness, humiliation and inhuman treatment by private and public actors in the state with whom they seek help. "Nigeria, one of the 25 poorest countries in the world, started its own citizenship in 1960 with a poverty rate of just under 15% of its population and is now trying to reduce it by 70% of its population. Current population of 120 million Among those living in poverty, 73% are concentrated in rural areas where illiteracy is widespread, drinking water and health facilities are scarce, and road and electrical infrastructure is unavailable or poorly managed.
Nor is it because the desire of the poor to free themselves from their deplorable and frustrating state of near-despair has not been sufficiently addressed. No Nigerian government, be it military or civilian, has introduced or abandoned any form of poverty reduction or reduction program aimed at reducing the level of poverty, providing hope and poor, and to one. Work to create a kind of prosperity. Strategies, guidelines and plans have been formulated. Programs and projects have been formulated and implemented over the years. In 1960, at independence, efforts to eradicate poverty in Nigeria focused on education, while Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), the Green Revolution, the War on Indiscrimination (WAI) Bank of Nigeria (PBN), Community Banks, Restoration Roads and Rural Infrastructure Directorate (DFFRI), Nigerian Agricultural Land Use Development Agency (NALDA), Support Program Family Farming (FEAP), a program to improve the lives of rural women, a Family Support Program (FSP) and a National Poverty Reduction Program (NAPEP) adopted during the reporting period will be examined.