The study is to appraise the role of government in poverty alleviation in Nigeria with a special reference to National Poverty Eradication Programme NAPEP. The research introduces the background of the study in chapter one and brief historical background. Some of the objectives of this study is to identify the impact of NAPEP in the eradicating poverty in Nigeria, strategies for poverty reduction, to also identify the various government programmes on poverty alleviations and to ascertain whether the programme, NAPEP’s skill acquisition and youth empowerment programmes has made positive impact people. The reviewed of related literature were carry out in the study. The researcher used primary and secondary source of data for collection of data from the respondents. The responses from the administered questionnaire were analyses in chapter four and hypothesis formulated in chapter one were tested and the decision were made and alternative hypothesis was accepted and the null hypothesis was rejected. From the study it was discovered that the empowerment programmes of government have lifted a lot of the citizens out of abject poverty. The findings also show that lack of proper implementation of government policies on poverty alleviation has hindered the achievement of the programme. It was also discovered that one of the basic problems identified to be militating against the efficient operations of the programme is “inadequate facilities and logistic support”. This it was observed has negatively affected effective operations of the programme which is rural based. Based on the findings it was recommended that necessary facilities, equipments and logistics should be provided to the programme to enhance better performance most especially if the self-reliance objective of the programmes is to be achieved. The credit schemes should be properly funded, strengthened and made to provide basic loans to grandaunts of various skill acquisition programmes, to enable them establish own business. Also, it was recommended that there is the need for an effective monitoring of the entire activities of the programme at all stages of implementation. In this way, diversion of fund/resources to other uses as well as mismanagement of resources will be checked. As such, the monitoring department of this programme should be made more efficient and effective in identification of problems and subsequently proffering workable remedial solutions.
One of the primary purposes of every government is to improve the welfare of its citizenry. The basic idea of welfarism encompasses all concerted efforts directed towards the betterment and the improvement of the living standard of the people thereby achieving economic development. Nigeria is a country endowed with abundant human, material and natural resources. These vast resources are capable of forming a solid base for socioeconomic development, granted political leadership, good governance and exemplary leadership as well as the development in human skills. Nigeria has a high potential of becoming a great nation.
At independence, Nigeria had a high expectation of launching into a take-off stage within a reasonable period of time. However, the economy was dualistic with a large traditional agricultural-based rural sector and a small modern urban sector. Most of the manufacturing industries and almost all the modern infrastructures were located in the urban areas. The majority of the people lived and farmed in the rural areas with little or no economic/social infrastructure, neither had they the required skills to develop themselves.
The developmental challenges that face the post-independence government were enormous. These developmental challenges included at the minimum, the provision of education and health services to the people, the provision of social and economic infrastructures to the vast majority of the people, the management of the vast human and material resources and the development of people’s skills toward enhancing their economic wellbeing. It is worth noting that the manner in which some of these challenges were addressed was the adoption of a four-year demand management economic policy in the form of economic stabilization Act of 1982, the austerity programme of 1984 and the National Economic Emergency Measures of 1985 for economic recovery and self-reliance. But all had only marginal effects because of lack of continuity in past policies. And a two-year Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) had to be adopted to broaden the productive and resource base of the economy, eliminate distortion, reduce the role of government, encourage competition and make the economy self-reliant.
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