ActionAid Nigeria has challenged the Federal Government to back President Bola Tinubu’s pledge to “defeat” poverty with clear targets, timelines and publicly measurable indicators, saying economic growth alone cannot demonstrate that millions of Nigerians are becoming more prosperous.
The organisation said Tinubu’s declaration in his 66th Independence Day address that Nigeria was moving from an “age of reform” to an “age of prosperity” was significant, but stressed that prosperity must ultimately be reflected in citizens’ daily lives through higher real incomes, improved access to food and basic services, decent employment and safer communities.
Tinubu had declared: “Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it.”
ActionAid said the pledge should now be subjected to measurable tests that would enable Nigerians to assess, year by year, whether the government was delivering the promised transformation.
The organisation cited the World Bank’s latest assessment, which estimated that 50.8 per cent of Nigerians, or about 123 million people, lived in extreme poverty in 2025, while 69.6 per cent lived below the $4.20-a-day poverty line for lower-middle-income countries.
It said the government should therefore be able to demonstrate how many Nigerians were moving out of poverty, whether household incomes were rising in real terms, whether fewer families were skipping meals and whether social protection programmes were reaching those most in need.
ActionAid also called for improvements in healthcare, education, decent work and other basic services to be incorporated into the measurement of national prosperity.
“Poverty cannot be declared defeated because economic indicators are improving. It will be defeated when people can feel the difference at home,” the organisation said.
The call comes amid signs of improved macroeconomic performance. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, up from 3.89 per cent in the first quarter, while headline inflation stood at 15.39 per cent in August.
Food inflation, however, remained considerably higher at 19.57 per cent, highlighting continued pressure on household purchasing power.
ActionAid said the figures were important but raised the question of how widely the benefits of the recovery were being distributed.
According to the organisation, economic growth must translate into decent jobs, higher real incomes, reduced inequality and more affordable food and transportation.
It also called for deliberate inclusion of women, young people, persons with disabilities and communities historically excluded from economic opportunities in the benefits of economic recovery.
The organisation linked poverty reduction to food security and the safety of farmers, arguing that the President’s vision of a Nigeria where farmers can cultivate their land safely, produce more cheaply and earn decent returns should become a measurable national commitment.
It cited the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s latest assessment, which estimated that nearly 36.3 million Nigerians faced severe acute food insecurity during the June-August 2026 lean season, including about 2.1 million people experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity.
ActionAid said conflict and economic pressures remained major drivers of the food crisis, making security a critical component of any credible poverty-reduction strategy.
It urged increased investment in irrigation, mechanisation, improved seeds, storage, transportation and agricultural infrastructure, particularly to benefit smallholder farmers and women farmers.
The organisation also advocated greater investment in climate-resilient and agroecological farming to reduce production costs, protect soil and biodiversity, strengthen local food systems and reduce dependence on increasingly expensive external inputs.
ActionAid further argued that insecurity should be treated as a development indicator and not solely as a security concern.
It said government should measure progress by whether attacks were declining, farmers were returning safely to their farms, displaced families were able to return home, children could attend school without fear, and markets and communities could operate safely.
Speaking in Abuja, ActionAid Nigeria Country Director, Dr Andrew Mamedu, said the President’s pledge had created an opportunity for Nigerians to demand evidence-based accountability.
“The President has made a bold commitment that Nigeria will defeat poverty. Nigerians should now be able to hold the government to that commitment through clear, measurable results,” Mamedu said.
He added that economic growth mattered, but the real evidence of prosperity would be whether families could afford nutritious food, young people could secure decent work, women farmers could cultivate their land safely and profitably, and Nigerians could live without fear in their communities.
“If this is truly the beginning of an age of prosperity, then prosperity must have numbers, targets and timelines. We must be able to measure how many Nigerians are leaving poverty behind, not simply how much the economy is growing,” he said.
ActionAid consequently urged the Federal Government to translate the Independence Day commitments into clear, time-bound and publicly accessible targets covering poverty reduction, household incomes, food security, employment, social protection and community safety.
The organisation said Nigeria should recognise improvements in economic performance while ensuring that national progress is ultimately reflected in fewer people living in poverty and hunger, more citizens securing decent livelihoods, safer farming communities and tangible improvements in household welfare.
