UNDP's Sustainable Livelihood Programmes and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: The Development Paradox of Prebendalism
Abstract
Poverty manifests in the absence of basic needs such as good healthcare, education, transport system, sanitation etc. and recent reports have shown that Nigeria is the poorest country in the world. The objective of this paper was to examine the effect of Sustainable Livelihood (SL) programmes of the United Nations Development Programme on poverty reduction in Nigeria. In the course of this research, data was sourced from secondary sources like textbooks, journal articles, internet, as well as government documented sources and analysed through content analysis. It was revealed that whereas the UNDP has committed tremendous resources to help reduce poverty in Nigeria, poverty persists because of what Richard Joseph (1987) called “prebendalism” i.e. negative attitude of governments, public office holders and the general public. It was concluded that for poverty reduction strategies to be effective in Nigeria, leaders must begin to see their positions as platforms for service to the people and not as service to themselves or their ethnic nationalities. The paper recommended among others, that there should be committed effort to close the inequality gap, as well as carry out social re-orientation to change the mind-set of Nigerians.
Authors
- Anietie Nseowo Udofia
Department of Political Science and Public Administration
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria
anietiudofia@uniuyo.edu.ng