The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says 74.6 per cent of residents of Gombe State are poor.

Mr Yusuf Auta, the Social Protection Specialist, UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, announced this at the opening of a workshop on the Development of Implementation Plan and Costing of Gombe State Social Protection Policy on Monday in Jos.

Auta explained that the figures were captured in the social protection policy document recently developed for the state.

“Current statistics shows that 74.6 per cent of Gombe State residents are living below poverty line.

“This simply suggests that seven out of 10 Gombe State residents are poor, “he said.

Auta also decried the high level of multi-dimensional poverty among children in the state.

He explained that many children in the state were suffering from multi-dimensional poverty
“The Multi-Dimensional Child Poverty Analysis in Nigeria shows that 71.9 per cent of children in Gombe are multi-dimensuonally poor.

“This simply means that majority children in the state don’t have access to nutrition, healthcare services, education, housing, sanitation, water and information.

“Unfortunately, most children in Gombe are denied access to these basic necessities of life,” he said.

He commended the state government for developing the policy document, adding that it would place the state on the path of growth and development.

He said that the policy if implemented would promote the well-being of children and women in the state.

“UNICEF is happy to be part of this process and this is because it affects the lives of women and children.
“UNICEF pays attention to women and children because it is the credo of development.

“With proper education, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, poverty reduction, among others, the child is at home.

READ ALSO:2000 apply for Commonwealth Scholarship – FG
“Social protection policy provides the platform for UNICEF to support women and children to have a better life.

“So, we are here to come up with an implementation plan which will be in accordance with the budget provision of the state,” he said.

He promised that UNICEF would continue to support the state with technical assistance to address some of the issues which the policy seeks to achieve.

NAN reports that the meeting had participants from government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), traditional institutions, development partners and the media, among others.

What do the poor really eat?

Yemi Ajayi

On my way from the office, I was trapped in traffic, which stretched from Oworosonki to Ikeja Cantonment. Traffic on Ikorodu Road was moving as fast as a snail.

Over 90 minutes after leaving the office, I was still far from home. With the crawling traffic goes my hope of getting home on time to beat my dinner deadline of 7pm.

If I wasn’t not going to go to bed with just the breakfast I had at 7am, and thereby invited a protest by my innards that might be worse than the #endsars convulsions, then finding something to eat before getting home would be the best thing to do.

Then the gods intervened. They sent an angel in the form of a woman whose aroma of her wares wafted towards me even before I got to her spot. And behold her wares of roasted plantain (boli) and groundnuts, my favourite snacks as far back as the mid 60s. My cravings for the combo of roasted plantain and groundnuts is like that of Buharists and good news. And I’ve a big scar(how I got it is a story for another day) on my body as a memento of my undying love for the combo.

However, my relief of at last finding something to eat was dampened by the fact that I had to fork out N500 for the combo in the picture below.

As I munched it, I wondered how the poor now survive if one has to splurge N500 on just boli and groundnuts. Before Buhari happened to Nigeria, less of that amount would get anyone a good meal of amala, gbegiri and ewedu, with a big chunk of goat meat to boot.

That amount is also enough to cook a pot of soup and buy a measure of gari to make a whole meal. But if N500 is now barely enough for snacks (yes, not enough because I didn’t include the price of water), how do the poor feed? What do they really eat as prices of foodstuff are reaching for the skies? Not even the N10k being distributed by “incoming president” can feed just 1 person for a month, much less a family or lifting anyone out of poverty.
O God, we lift our eyes to the hill.

………………………….

Ajayi, a Lagos-based media executive, first published the article on his Facebook page