Kayode ShopekanSOCIO-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has demanded that President Buhari should widely publish the criteria of eligibility for the National Social Register of Poor and Vulnerable Households, cash transfers and other social assistance programmes.
SERAP made the call on Thursday in Lagos during the launch of its report titled, “The Ignored Pandemic: How Corruption in the Health, Education and Water Sectors is Plunging Nigerians further into Poverty.”
Join our WhatsApp ChannelWhile presenting the report, the Senior Research Fellow at the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, an arm of the ICPC, Dr Elijah Okebukola, revealed that widespread systemic corruption exists in Nigeria, especially in the education, health and water sectors, which according to him has plunged millions of Nigerians into poverty.
The report among other things, indicated that if poor people who were in the majority in the country continued to be denied access to public social amenities, they would seek every possible means of getting into government. It noted that about 81% of poor people believed that if they were government officials, they would have access to all social amenities.
The report stated, “Corruption contributes to poverty and suffering of people living in poor neighborhoods. Poor people are more of victims and not perpetrators of corruption in the health, education and water sectors.
“79 percent of poor people in Nigeria, that is more than 44,351,722 (forty-four million, three hundred and fifty-one thousand, seven hundred and twenty-two), do not have access to good drinking water because of corruption.
“23.96 percent, representing more than 10,626,673 (ten million, six hundred and twenty-six thousand, six hundred and seventy-three) of people living in poverty got water from streams or rivers.
“About 34 percent of people living in poverty, that is, about 19,088,083 (nineteen million, eighty-eight thousand, and eighty-three) did not use government medical facilities at all.
The SERAP report indicated that almost three million people living in poverty could not have access to government medical facilities across the country in the last one year.
“5.2 percent of people living in poverty, that is, more than 2,919,354 (two million, nine hundred and nineteen thousand, three hundred and fifty-four), who went to government medical facilities, were denied medical treatment in the last one year.
“52 percent of the people living in poverty who were denied treatment at governmental medical facilities, that is, more than 1,518,064 (one million, five-hundred and eighteen thousand, and sixty-four), were turned away because of inability to pay for treatment.”
“39 percent of the people living in poverty who were denied treatment at medical facilities, that is more than 1,138,548 (one million, one hundred and thirty-eight thousand, five hundred and forty-eight), were turned away because of the lack of equipment or bed-space.”
For access to poverty alleviation support, it noted that only 4.2 percent (2.3 million ) of the people living in poverty had received support from the government in the past one year
It stated that despite the infrastructural inadequacy in the country, 81 percent of people living in poor neighborhoods believed that those who held top public offices had better access to education, water and health care.
SERAP called on the government to prioritize health care system in the country.
“President Buhari should increase investment in public health, the healthcare system, education services, provision of clean water and other basic public goods and services that will benefit majority of the population.”
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