Eradicating Extreme Poverty By 2030

Extreme Poverty is defined by Wikipedia as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs,including food,safe drinking water,sanitation facilities,health,shelter,education and information". It depends not only on income but also on access to services. In search of a measuring yardstick,World Bank in 2005 endorsed the use of a poverty income line of 1.25 dollar a day.

Joseph Wresinski in his own definition points out the consequences of allowing this viscous circle to continue.For him,extreme poverty is the absence of one or more factors enabling individuals and families to assume basic responsibilities and to enjoy fundamental rights and saw such situations degenerating with time if not checked.

From literature review extreme poverty can adversely affect the normal growth of not only individuals ,communities ,nations and the World at large in such critical dimensions as economy,social, political ,environmental even spiritual spheres.

To eradicate extreme poverty in furthering global development under the auspices of the United Nations Organization ,a summit was held at New York ,September 2000 tagged Millennium Summit which adopted the Kofi Annan suggested Millennium Project .Theme: Investing in Development: A practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals"

This effort later metamorphosed into the Millennium declaration of over 170 leaders of governments to reduce Extreme Poverty by achieving the 8 Millennium Development Goals MDGs by the year 2015. These goals which include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 ; others include achieving universal primary education;promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal care; combating HIV/ AIDS and Malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability;and developing global partnership for development.

The goals were adopted by States in collaboration with the United Nations to tackle those conditions responsible for extreme poverty such as disease, inadequate education, poor sanitation, etc.

As the deadline 2015 approach with progress reports indicating marginal progress in the MDGs ,but overall the goal of eradicating extreme poverty may not be achieved as envisaged especially in the third world countries where poverty seems to rise with youth unemployment. These states are tagged fragile because of unstable socio economic situation that often demands global intervention via aids. Now the focus is increasingly shifted towards the required changes in strategy that would make it possible to reduce extreme poverty by 2030.

This article by way of solution submits that fundamental changes in this effort is needed to successfully eradicate poverty in 2030.Changes in definition,approach and delivery of poverty reduction measures. In definition, is need to segregate conditions of poverty in the urban from those of the rural;the developed from the emerging or fragile States.

Also, is need to explore the root causes of poverty by understanding fundamental spiritual reasons for the existence of man,and to this end extract what leads to failure in realizing the ideal purpose of man. A strategy to return man to appropriate living conditions for natural growth will reduce poverty.

Man has been incarnated as a bridge for the out workings of the will of God on earth. This will is physically represented by what lawyers know as the natural laws. If man lives aright that is obeying the natural laws he is fully provided for and becomes a useful link in the flowing through of the power of God on earth. He is active and happy and fulfilled therefore he is never poor,uncertain or disempowered in life.The achievement of his ideal life is in gradations depending on the level of knowledge and adherence. Even States will only attain natural laws in gradation with those places whose laws approximate more of the ideal as the most conducive for the development of man.

This has nothing to do with the present conception of advanced or developing nations. Whether poor or rich in terms of monetary valuation,man is given to fulfill his duty in a place and time and therefore cannot be described as poor. The so called "poor"fisherman in Nigeria for instance is actually as rich as any other if he is able to fish and bring up his family and fulfill his duty to society and therefore his God.

To understand natural laws, consider the human body which is the most visible instrument of these laws. Each incarnation of man in any place at a given time comes already with all he or she needs to fulfill the tasks that made his coming necessary. By the build of his body he is given all he needs to fend for himself at maturity. While awaiting maturity he is given an environment and culture with parents ,community and State each with a duty to help grow this body and spirit to maturity. Therefore the soil he is born is critical to this period of schooling as a support until he is ready to reach out to other parts of the world and experience other conditions if need be.

This early period of childhood and youth must not be mismanaged by displacement from this environment ,by an absentee parent or by a Community or State that is uncaring. So the education needed here is to get man to understand his environment and its working not to sharpen its intellect on conditions of other countries as today's lumped together education entails. He has to be useful to this environment that presents him a home in order later on to become a useful link in national and global development.

Productivity is the keyword here. In the natural order of things most people were born into small rural villages or neighborhoods. Before the advent of urbanization ,each person is born into a class or level which is important for his experiencing on earth. Man learns to provide for himself and family. In my village everyone is independent and only responsible to his "Chi",his God. The next authority is the community "Chi". Each person learns from childhood to provide everything for himself and family through his efforts.

He provides light,water,shelter,clothing for himself and family and also donates his service to the community and less privileged. As his children grow they also learn this independence as their first education thus they are never poor or unsure of tomorrow. They are productive each has an inheritance, and you will never see them lamenting that light ,water,or job was lacking in their lives.

On the other hand at this stage of life today the youth is displaced from his culture,from this vital first education but spends his growing years learning how to be dependent on an uncertain paymaster! When this monthly paycheck which often arrives with so much other liabilities,fail to come man becomes poor and awaits foreign aid!

We can remedy this situation easily even though urbanization threatens to perpetuate this poverty drive. We can consciously protect our rural areas and not present State policies unwittingly geared to making them urban areas in misguided quests to "develop" them or provide "basic Amenities " because what they have in their culture cannot be replicated by outside aid! Let them remain rural for that is closer to fulfilling the natural laws. As for the urban areas we can recreate broken cultures by setting minimum standards of life for all living in urban areas or their slums.

There may be gradations here because truly some people are here to experience lower standards of life than others and this is already naturally indicated in birth. There is wisdom in not pulling down these natural boundaries in the guise of development only to fail to realize it. Development is better defined as the natural growth within established boundaries rather than without boundaries.

So to breed productive self fulfilling human beings in our urban areas,we need (1)adequate space for every individual or families.(2) Accommodation which the occupant can pay for and own. (3) Employment or vocation for every level of service needed to run the urban area.( 4) Electricity or means of energy to be paid for or withdrawn at source from salaries. (5) Market place for exchange and currency. Everything must be paid for in its gradation and people have option to give to charity. What it mean essentially is that future aid should be seen as loan channeled towards providing these basic facilities for urban dwellers.

Appropriate laws are made by the State to streamline the people that can be permitted to live in urban areas. Those who have capacity to work and pay back for the amenities will live in the new urban areas where there will be no overcrowding. Others may return to the villages until they become qualified to live in the urban areas. By this means,stability,productivity and creativity is assured ,these being the necessary ingredients

required to keep the human spirit truly living and fulfilling his purpose on earth.

The advantages of the above approach vis a vis the old ones such as the MDGs in curbing poverty is that it preserves the environment and culture of the people the biggest contributors to stability,productivity and creativity. Here there is no monetary consideration or lumping of these conditions by the definition. It creates immediately contented people and removes or tackles displacement of the people from natural habitats. It tackles declining productivity,which is responsible for increasing poverty of man in the developing or rather fragile States.

It is displacement of man that creates instability and widening gap between the so called rich and poor even in the midst of plenty. It is wrong education that creates effective ignorance leading to inability to help oneself even with outside help. Therefore foreign aids is no solution except where it helps restore the environment and culture.

*Mr Nworisara is Special Assistant to the Governor of Bayelsa State on Social Media and Research