The UN has described Nigeria as a “divided society on the basis of the plurality of ethnic, religious and regional identities that had tended to define the country’s political existence.”
This was made known to the public during a consultative meeting on the formulation of the UN Development Assistance Framework IV (UNDAF IV) for the South-East geo-political zone in Awka.
The report noted that for decades, different segments of Nigeria’s population had, at different times, expressed feelings of marginalisation, of being short-changed, dominated, oppressed, threatened, or even targeted for elimination.
The report also painted a gloomy picture for the country as most of the development and social indices in Nigeria recorded much below acceptable standards.
It noted that the major challenges facing Nigeria were constraints of economic growth and social development and lack of good governance.
Part of the report read: “Nigeria is one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world, with over 80 million or 64 per cent of her population living below poverty line. “Poverty and hunger have remained high in rural areas, remote communities and among female-headed households and these cut across the six geo-political zones, with prevalence ranging from approximately 46.9 per cent in the South-west to 74.3 per cent in North-west and North-east.
“Nigeria’s economy is currently in a recession and it is estimated that government revenues have fallen by as much as 33 per cent, which has further resulted in the contraction of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 0.36 per cent in the first three months of 2016.
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