ABSTRACT
This study focused on the assessment of the impact of management of poverty reduction programmes on the quality of lives and households of communities in Osisoma Ngwa and Aba North local government areas of Abia State. The objectives of the study are, to ascertain the impact of poverty reduction programmes on the households living standards of communities, to examine the relationship that exists between management of poverty reduction programmes and people’s well-being in those communities, to ascertain the challenges faced by the management of anti-poverty programmes in implementation of the policy and to determine the strategies for effective management of poverty reduction programmes in the communities. The survey research design was adopted; the population was 210,000 members of the two selected local governments, from which 422 sample size were drawn. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire designed on five point likert scale of agreed, strongly agreed, disagreed, strongly disagreed and undecided. The instrument was confirmed to have high validity and reliability. Four research questions were analyzed using frequencies and percentages while four hypotheses were tested using person’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression statistical tools with SPSS statistical package at 0.05 level of significance. The major findings were that management of poverty reduction programmes is active to ensure high quality of lives of the households in those communities investigated, that there is a significant relationship between management of poverty reduction programmes and people’s wellbeing in those communities, there are challenges faced by management of poverty reduction programmes in implementation of such policy and that there are suitable strategies for effective management of poverty reduction programmes in those communities. The study recommends that management of anti-poverty programmes should be proactive in their job to add more quality to the lives of households in those communities investigated, that governments, philanthropists and NGOs should be extremely interested in the indigent and vulnerable (real poor) people when initiating and implementing such programmes such that it will ensure zero tolerance of irregularities, misappropriation of funds, and those who cut-corners during and after the program should be thoroughly investigated, prosecuted and sacked from the system to avoid subsequent occurrence. That key stakeholders should be involved in planning and decision making so that objectives of the programme can be realized.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables ix
Abstract x
CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background to the
Study 1
1.2 Statement of the
Problem 6
1.3 Objectives of the
Study 7
1.4 Research
Questions 8
1.5 Research
Hypotheses 8
1.6 Significance of
the Study 8
1.7 Scope of the
Study 9
1.8 Profiles of the
Local Governments 10
1.8.1 Osisioma Ngwa 10
1.8.2 Aba North 10
1.9 Operational
Definition of Terms 10
CHAPTER
2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual
Framework 12
2.1.1 Meaning of poverty
12
2.1.2 Poverty
summary in Nigeria 15
2.1.3 Causes
of poverty in developing countries 16
2.1.4 Effects
of poverty in developing countries 24
2.1.5 Government
poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria 26
2.1.6 An
evaluation of poverty alleviation programmes/policies and poverty
reduction strategies in
Nigeria 35
2.1.7 Hindrances
of poverty reduction programmes in Nigeria 38
2.1.8 Poverty
profile and the failure of government’s interventions 39
2.2 Theoretical Review 44
2.2.1 Nurkse’s vicious circle of poverty theory
(1953) 44
2.2.2 John Locke’s individualistic theory. 45
2.2.3 Oscar
Lewis’s culture of poverty theory (1950) 46
2.2.4 Paul Hershey’ situational theory 47
2.2.5 Marxian theory of poverty 48
2.2.6 Social
exclusion theory 50
2.3 Empirical Review 51
2.4 Summary of the Literature Reviewed and
Gap 58
CHAPTER 3:
METHODOLOGY 60
3.1 Research Design 60
3.2 Sources of Data 60
3.3 Population of the
Study 60
3.4 Sample Size
Determination 64
3.5 Sample and Sampling
Procedure 65
3.6 Instrument of
Data Collection 65
3.7 Validity of the
Instrument 65
3.8 Reliability of
the Instrument 66
3.9 Method of Data
Analyses 66
3.9.1 Model
specification 67
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Distributed and
Return Rate of Questionnaire 68
4.2 Analyses
of Research Questions 71
4.3 Test
of Hypotheses 78
4.4 Discussion 85
CHAPTER
5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 92
5.1 Summary 92
5.2 Conclusion 92
5.3 Recommendations 93
5.4 Areas
of Further Study 94
References 95
Appendices 103
LIST OF TABLES
3.1 Communities in
Osisioma Ngwa 61
3.2 Communities in Aba
North
63
4.1 Return Rate of
Questionnaire 68
4.2 Local Government
Areas 68
4.3 Age of
Respondents 69
4.4 Sex of
Respondents 69
4.5 Educational
Qualification 70
4.6 Occupation of
Respondents 70
4.7 Analysis of
Research Item 1 of Question 1 71
4.8 Analysis of
Research Item 2 of Question 1 71
4.9 Analysis of
Research Item 3 of Question 1 72
4.10 Analysis of
Research Item 1 of Question 2 72
4.11 Analysis of
Research Item 2 of Question 2 73
4.12 Analysis of
Research Item 3 of Question 2 73
4.13 Analysis of
Research Item 1 of Question 3 74
4.14 Analysis of
Research Item 2 of Question 3 75
4.15 Analysis of
Research Item 3 of Question 3 75
4.16 Analysis of
Research Item 1 of Question 4 76
4.17 Analysis of
Research Item 2 of Question 4 76
4.18 Analysis of
Research Item 3 of Question 4 77
4.19 Correlation
Analysis of Hypothesis 1 78
4.20 Correlation
Analysis of Hypothesis 2 80
4.21 Correlation
Analysis of Hypothesis 3 81
4.22 Correlation
Analysis of Hypothesis 4 83
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
Poverty
which is as old as the world, affects continents, countries and persons
differently. It afflicts people in various depths and levels, at different
times and phases of existence. There is no state that is totally free from
poverty (Oyemomi, 2003).
Therefore, the reduction of poverty is the most difficult challenge
facing many countries in developing world where on the average majority of the
population is considered abjectly poor. Agreeing to Etim and Ukoha (2010),
poverty rests a practical global problem of enormous fraction. The disturbing occurrence
at present-day, induces anxiety, fear, comment, argument, and has engaged a main
area of speech between policy makers and scientists. Compared with other
regions in the world, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest number of people
classified as poor, followed by south AsiaEtim and Ukoha (2010).
Oyemomi (2003), opines
that Nigeria is ranked among the 25 poorest
countries in the world, started its independent nationhood with poverty level
of barely 15% of its population in1960 and is today struggling to bring it down
from about 70% of its current teeming population of about 170 million. Of the amount
of the poverty traumatized individuals, about 73 per cent is focused in the
rural areas where illiteracy dominance is high, potable water and health amenities
are rarely obtainable, road and energy infrastructures are either unobtainable
or badly managed. The World Bank and United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP)’s 2002 Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.461 aptly indicates the
deplorable state of our nation in the level of poverty and low human
development. This is in-spite of the fact that the country is richly endowed
with all kinds of agricultural and mineral resources. Nigeria’s proportion of
the poor has doubled over the last two decades, during which time the country
received over $300 billion in oil and gas revenue. Paradoxically, Nigeria’s
level of revenue and endowment are in inverse proportion with her poverty
level. Ogwumike (1998), in his study shows that the amount of people under
poverty has continual to upsurge. For instance, the amount of those in poverty
up surged from 27% in 1980 to 46% in 1985; it dropped somewhat to 42% in 1992,
and enlarged very sharply to 67% in 1996. By 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo’s governments
came to power, statistics showed that more than 70% of Nigerians lived in
poverty. That was why that regime affirmed in November 1999 that the N470
billion budgets for year 2000 was “to dismiss and control poverty.” Prior the
National Assembly even passed the 2000 budget, the government got an endorsement
to pledge N10 billion to poverty mitigation programme.
In
the 2001 budget, the administration has improved the provision to poverty mitigation
programme by 150%. This idea of poverty alleviation was received with high
hopes especially given the speed with which that administration tackled the
fuel problem as soon as it came into power. Good management of poverty
alleviation system was seen as a vehicle through which the government can
revamp the battered economy and rebuild self-esteem in majority of Nigerians
who had been dehumanized through lack of attention to poverty by the past
military regimes. The Nigerian government in realizing the pivotal role good
management of poverty alleviation policies are playing in transforming the
economy and in reducing the level of poverty, put in place enabling policies in
collaboration with a number of committed international agencies and NGOs to
promote an effectively improve human capital development for Nigeria through internship,
vocational, skill acquisitions and other profiteering and business ventures
aiming at reducing if not eliminating
poverty level. In accession to that, the Nigerian government also pursues
viable cooperation with other interested stakeholders like States and Local
governments for the positive growth of the human capital development and
drastic reduction of poverty. For example, the present government has began
with her Social Investment Programmes (SIP) which aimed at reducing poverty and
improving livelihoods of vulnerable groups through; N-power program which is
aimed at empowering 500,000 unemployed youths through teaching and other skills
acquisition across the country for two
years, Conditional Cash Transfer aimed at ensuring transfer payment of N5,000.00
on monthly basis to elderly people for
years, National Home Grown Feeding Programme aimed at feeding primary school
children across the country for two years and Government Enterprise and
Empowerment Program aimed at giving credit facilities to entrepreneurs and
businessmen to enhance pump investment.
To
accelerate growth and reduce poverty, the World Bank Group and other
international aid agencies provide targeted assistance to small and medium size
enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies. For example, the World Bank Group
approved more than $10 billion in SME support programmes over the period 1998 –
2002 and $1.3 billion in 2003.Also in a bid to encourage the growth and
development of manpower and to overcome poverty, Nigerian government initiated
different policies and structural programmes that are SMEs oriented, with the
mandate to assist and reduce the rate of poverty. These programmes include:
Better Life Programme (BLP), National Directorate of Employment (NDE); People’
Bank of Nigeria (PBN); Community Bank (CB); Poverty Eradication Programme
(PEP); National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP); Youth Empowerment Scheme
(YES) and National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), among
others.
Obadan,
(2001), states that doubts have been raised regarding the effectiveness of
these programmes in achieving their overarching goal of poverty alleviation and
promoting household welfare, as the country experiences soaring and wide-spread
poverty incidence. A close inspection of these programmes reveals priority misplacement.
Several programmes has been launched to facilitate efforts made by the Federal
government in reducing poverty level and as well to cushion the effects on the
people. Certainly before now, several poverty alleviation programmes had been
outlined and implemented, even some are under implementation process. Although
analyzing each of the Poverty Reduction Strategies in Nigeria looks ideal, such
exercise has been done by several studies and they seem to agree substantially
on the reasons for the failure of the numerous poverty intervention measures.
Jega (2003) was unequivocal in his agreement with problems identified by
Ajakaiye (2003) as the bane of poverty alleviation eradication programmes in
Nigeria. Ajakaiye in his work identified the following problems associated with
the successive management of poverty reduction programmes.
- Policy inconsistency
and poor governance;
-
Ineffective targeting of the poor (leading to leakage of benefits to unintended
beneficiaries);
-
Unwieldy scope of the programmes resulting in resources being thinly spread
among projects;
- Overlapping of
functions which ultimately led to institutional rivalry and conflicts;
- Lack of
complementarities from beneficiaries;
- Uncoordinated sectoral
policy initiatives;
-
Lack of involvement of social partners and other stakeholders in planning,
implementation and evaluation; and
- “Poor human capital
development and inadequate funding.”
The Presidential Panel on
Streamlining and Rationalisation of Poverty Alleviation Institutions and
Agencies in its main report of 1999 P. 10 listed some reasons it considered
most relevant that account for the failure of the wide array of Nigeria’s
poverty intervention measures. The reasons accord substantially to those above
with the following as additions:
i. Gross mismanagement and lack of
financial discipline;
ii. Poor and inconsistent funding;
iii. Policy inconsistencies occasioned by
frequent changes in Government and absence of in-built sustainability mechanism; and
iv.
Absence of a co-coordinating body
necessary for effective implementation, co-ordination, planning, monitoring and
evaluation of achievements and constraints.
Anyanwu (2012) asserts
that most policy direction towards the fight against poverty in Nigeria has
never been structurally designed to focus on those options that significantly
alleviate poverty in its context. The inability of efficient management of most
poverty reduction programmes in the past and of the present to achieve significant
outcomes has been the outright neglect or unclear understanding on the part of
policy formulators of what the problem truly is: who are the poor?, why are
they poor?, what kind of poverty do they face?, and where do they live?.
Incorporating these salient but important issues in evolving a poverty antidote
instill a comprehensive insight on why most Nigerians lack the capabilities to
function effectively. For instance, in a bid to improve living conditions in of people in Umuocham, an urban community in Osisioma
Ngwa LGA in Abia State, Nigeria, monetary aid was disbursed to the villages in
that community. Records showed that the targeted beneficiaries were unable to
access the fund, let alone improving their lots from that aid, as their
standard of living remained pitiable. This was occasioned by lack of accountability
and transparency in the implementation of poverty reduction scheme in the
target community. Though, government has not relented in devising policy
measures to checkmate and as well control the poverty level hence the desire to
initiate poverty reduction programmes in the state.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
Nigeria
has been described as a self-contradictory State by the World Bank in 1996;
this has continued to be confirmed by events and official statistics in the
country. The inconsistency is that the poverty level in Nigeria opposes the nation’s
immense fortune. Among other things, the nation is extremely gifted with human,
agricultural, petroleum, gas, and large unexploited solid mineral resources.
Particularly it is worrisome that the country earned over US$300 billion from
one resource, petroleum, during the last three decades (World Bank, 1996). Instead
of recording remarkable progress in national, socio-economic development,
Nigeria retrogressed to become one of the 25 poorest countries at the threshold
of twenty-first century whereas she was ranked among the richest 50 in the
early 1970’s.
Official
statistics show that in 1980 the national (average) poverty incidence grew to
28.1% of the population. As a result of the great majority of people living in
abject poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, diseases, dilapidated roads, poor
quality water supply and consistent hazards and devastation of the environment
and livelihoods, especially in the communities of Osisioma Ngwa and Aba North
and their households. In order to alleviate this social cankerworm that has
eaten deep into the fabric of the economy, Nigerian government/NGOs has set up
strategies in the name of poverty reduction programmes to help ameliorate this
condition. But sadly, the management of these programmes has not been efficient
and effective in the distribution and implementation of this policy to the
people who are virtually pre-occupied with how to survive the predicaments
stated above and which has ravaged their socio-economic situation. Unless
immediate and proactive attention is not taken it will continue to cause
considerable hardship to the people and as a result pose a serious threat to
the growth and development of lives of the households in those communities. More
so, its persistent increasing trend and presence definitely will conquer the
objectives and efforts of government in initiating poverty reduction programmes
in Nigeria.
It
is the opinion of the researcher that the ugly trend in management of poverty
reduction policies and unemployment in the face of rising cost of living has
conditioned many people to very low and undignified standard of living in
Nigeria which inevitably classifies this country as an under-developed country.
Poverty reduction programmes, which are actions that seem to increase the
standard of living of the people beyond their present abject poverty condition,
and which facilitate the well-being of the households and the communities, have
not been taken seriously. Hence the present study.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The major objective of this study is to
assess the impact of management of poverty reduction programmes on the quality
of lives of households in the selected communities.
The specific objectives are to:
i Ascertain
the impact of management of poverty reduction programmes on the households’ living standards of those communities.
ii Examine
the relationship between management of poverty reduction programmes and people’s condition in those communities.
iii Ascertain
the challenges faced by the management of poverty reduction programmes in implementation
of poverty reduction policies in the communities.
iv Determine
the strategies for effective management of poverty reduction programmes in the
communities.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
i
How active is management of
poverty reduction programmes in ensuring positive living standards of households
in those communities?
ii What significant relationship exists
between management of poverty reduction programmes
and people’s conditions in those communities?
iii
What are the challenges faced by
the management of poverty reduction programmes in implementation of the policy
in the communities?
iv
What are the strategies for
effective management of poverty reduction programmes in the communities?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
i H01: Management of poverty
reduction programmes is not active in ensuring positive living standards of households in those
communities.
ii
H02: There is no significant
relationship between management of Poverty reduction programmes and people’s
condition in those communities.
iii
H03: There are no challenges faced by the management of poverty
reduction programmes in implementation of the policy in the communities.
iv
H04: There are no strategies for effective management of
poverty reduction programmes in the communities.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This
research work seeks to assess the impact of management of poverty reduction
programmes on the quality of lives of households: A study of communities in
Osisioma Ngwa and Aba North LGAs. This research work will help the communities
and her residence know the negative effects poverty has imposed on households
and individuals. This research work will help the communities investigated to
constructively appraise the management of governmental and NGOs policies and
programmes towards attaining poverty free Localities. The study will bring to
their notice the areas the management of these policies have affected their
lives negatively or positively and the state of their standard of living. This
study will as well help the management of these social policies to know whether
they are on the right track or not. Through the recommendations, they will be
informed of the ways they can improve and add more quality to people’s lives,
it help them in overcoming negative
effects of inefficiency and as well
redirect them on how to improve in reducing if not total eradication of poverty. Finally, this research work proposes to
provide information that will be useful to the policy makers (government) and
the general public who needs to understand the mayhem caused by ineffective
performance of management of poverty reduction organizers to the communities
under investigation and benefits programmes initiated and to be initiated will
be to the quality of lives of household and individuals who embraces it, as
well, it will be an eye opener to the government to understand carefully her
areas of inefficiency in implementing the outlined programmes. More
importantly, the result will be a corrective policy measure and strategies to
control or encourage programmes channeled towards alleviating poverty. This
research work will add to the scholarly materials available for potential
researchers and students to rely on when embarking in similar topics.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of this study focused on the
assessment of the impact management of poverty reduction programmes on the
quality of lives of households in the selected Local Governments in Abia State.
It covers the meaning, forms, causes, effects, and consequences of poverty. The
scope equally covers the fundamentals of poverty alleviation programmes by the
government, evaluation of poverty alleviation programmes/policies, why poverty
reduction programmes not yielding the desired result, poverty profile and
government’s failure to intervene. It equally suggests how to effectively
implement programmes outlined to reduce poverty within the localities under
study and generalizing; what should be done to (perpetrators) those who sabotage
the efforts of government and NGOs in disbursing/implementing the carefully
planned policies and programmes aimed at reducing poverty drastically if not
total eradication in Osisioma Ngwa and Aba North LGAs in Abia State of Nigeria.
1.8 PROFILES OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
INVESTIGATED
1.8.1 Osisioma Ngwa is a Local Government Area
of Abia State, Nigeria. Its headquarter is in the town of Osisioma. It has an area of
198 km² and a population of 147,154 as at 2016. The postal code is 451.
1.8.2 Aba North is a Local Government Area of Abia State,
Nigeria. Its headquarter is in the town of Eziama Urata, it has an area of
23 km² and a population of 62,846 as at 2016. The postal code is 450.
1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
Poverty: Poverty,
in this sense, is defined as deprivation in the material requirements for minimally
acceptable fulfillment of human needs, including food. This deprivational
concept goes far beyond a lack of private income: it includes the need for
basic health and education and essential services that must be provided by the
society to prevent people from falling into poverty.
Reduction: according
to Dictionary .com, reduction is the act of reducing
or the state of being reduced.
Or the amount
by which something is reduced or diminished. Also according to Webster’s dictionary,
reduction means, the act of making something smaller
or less: the state of being made smaller or less
Management: This
is the activities of setting the strategy of an organization and coordinating
the efforts of its employees or volunteers to actualize its objectives through
the input of the available resource which could be time finance, human,
technological and natural.
Communities:
According to Wikipedia, community
is commonly considereda social unit a group of people who have something in
common, such as norms, values, or identity.
Often - but not always - communities share a sense of place
that is situated in a given geographical area e.g. a country, village, town, or
neighborhood. Durable relations that extend beyond immediate genealogical ties
also define a sense of community.
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