FG Blames High Poverty Level On State Governors

…Says they prefer building flyovers, airports to combating hunger

The federal government on Wednesday blamed the high level of poverty in the country on state governors who it said pays more attention to flyovers and airports rather than the improvement of life in the rural areas.

Giving the outcome of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, who made the assertion, told correspondents that 72% of the poverty in Nigeria is found in the rural areas, which he said had been abandoned by governors.

According to him, the governors prefer to function in the state capitals.

While noting that the federal government on its part has done its best on poverty alleviation, he regretted that there is no reflection of the amount of investment that had been done in the area.

He accused state governors of concentrating on building flyovers, airports and other projects that are visible in the state capitals rather than investing in areas that directly uplift the standard of life of the people in the rural areas.

Agba pointed out that while states are in charge of land for agriculture, they do not invest in them for the desired effect on their rural citizens.

He, therefore, advised the state chief executives that rather than concentrate attention on the building of sky scrappers, flyovers and bridges, they should focus on initiatives that can pull the majority of the people out of poverty.