The Sokoto State Government has begun a fresh Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) survey to reassess poverty levels and design new strategies to address the challenge.
Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Engr. Muhammad Zayyana, disclosed this in an interview, explaining that the 2022 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) survey, which ranked Sokoto among the poorest states in Nigeria, had methodological gaps that warranted a fresh assessment.
“The methodology is not too bad, but it is not sufficient enough to make any general findings. That is why, in conjunction with Redware, we decided to conduct our own MPI survey in Sokoto, using 2022 as a benchmark to see what has changed over time,” he said.
According to him, the new survey has been conducted with Governor Ahmed Aliyu’s approval, and data analysis is currently ongoing. “From preliminary results, we have started seeing some positive changes, though we are not yet where we want to be. Once the analysis is completed, we will make the findings public,” Zayyana added.
The commissioner stressed that Sokoto is richly endowed with resources that, if properly harnessed, could reduce poverty. He said the government is restructuring ministries and agencies to ensure coordinated poverty reduction programmes.
He further revealed that Sokoto is aligning with the federal government’s new ward-based deployment strategy, introduced at the National Economic Council meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.
“The idea is to start tackling poverty from the ward level across Nigeria’s 8,086 wards by assessing their potential, population, youth demographics, and local activities. His Excellency, Governor Aliyu, is already thinking along this direction,” he said.
Zayyana described the approach as a bottom-up strategy, noting that data gathered from the grassroots would inform government planning and ensure interventions are tailored to the realities of each community.
“This will help us see exactly how to address the issue of poverty from the ward level up,” he concluded.
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