By Shafa’atu Suleiman
The Sokoto State Government has initiated a fresh Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) survey to reassess the level of poverty in the state and chart new strategies for tackling the problem.
Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Engr. Muhammad Zayyana, disclosed this in an interview, noting that the 2022 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) survey, which ranked Sokoto among the poorest states in the country, had methodological gaps that required further scrutiny.
“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.”
According to him, the new survey has already been conducted with the approval of Governor Ahmed Aliyu, and data analysis is currently ongoing. “From the 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,” he added.
Zayyana explained that Sokoto is endowed with abundant resources that can help address poverty if effectively harnessed. He emphasized that the government is streamlining the activities of ministries and agencies to ensure coordinated poverty reduction programs.
He also revealed that Sokoto is aligning with the federal government’s new ward-based deployment strategy, recently 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,” Zayyana said.
Describing it as a bottom-up approach, the commissioner said data gathered from the grassroots would inform planning and ensure that 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 stressed.
