By Garba Mohammed

The Sokoto State government has unveiled its transformative Nine-Point Smart Agenda and launched the 2025 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Report, a landmark document that stands as the first official publication of the Sokoto State Bureau of Statistics since its establishment in 2013.

The event, held within the week at the Deputy Governor’s Conference Hall, Government House, Sokoto, marked a decisive shift from perception‑based governance to evidence‑led, data‑driven development.

Speaking at the unveiling, the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Idris Mohammed Gobir, who also chairs the Steering Committee of the Nine‑Point Smart Agenda, described the twin documents as the administration’s covenant with the people of Sokoto.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Muhammad Bello Sifawa, the deputy governor noted that the Nine‑Point Agenda–built on Security, Religious Affairs, Economic Development, Education, Healthcare, Agriculture, Water Supply, Youth Empowerment, and Local Government Autonomy–is already delivering tangible results.

“Seventy per cent of the 2026 budget allocation is dedicated to infrastructure,” he stated. “This is the kind of transparent, accountable governance we promised. Today, we move from perception to evidence.”

In a significant revelation, the 2025 MPI Report was unveiled as the maiden official publication of the Sokoto State Bureau of Statistics established in 2013 but which had never before produced its own standalone poverty index.

The report, described as a “scientific compass,” provides for the first time credible, data‑backed insights into where poverty lives in Sokoto, how deep it is, and what drives it.

Key findings include: Insecurity fuels deprivation: In local councils like Tangaza and Binji, insecurity correlates almost perfectly with poverty.

A hidden urban employment crisis: Metropolitan local councils show surprisingly high deprivation.

Nearly one‑third of the population is “asset‑rich but cash‑poor”: The so‑called “transient poor” trapped by seasonal liquidity crunches.

The success of both documents owes much to the visionary leadership of the Commissioner, Dr. Abubakar Mohammed Zayyana and the Statistician General, Abdullahi Abdulrahman Shagari, who not only spearheaded the production of the MPI Report but also played a central role in shaping the evidence base for the Nine‑Point Smart Agenda.

In his opening remarks, Shagari disclosed a stunning achievement. He said: “In 2022, the National MPI assessed the intensity of poverty in Sokoto at 91 per cent. Governor Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto took those numbers seriously and enacted massive reforms. By 2025, our state‑owned MPI survey–conducted with Redwire Consulting and strong UNDP support–shows that poverty intensity has declined to 41 per cent. This is a direct result of the administration’s social protection policies and targeted interventions.”

He further explained that the report’s innovative “Dual‑Lens” analysis distinguishes between structural poverty (lack of schools, water, security) and transient cash poverty.

“This allows us to prescribe the right medicine–infrastructure for the chronically poor and seasonal cash transfers for the transient poor.”

The Director of Planning, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi, who delivered the welcome address, declared that the two documents would forever change how the state makes decisions.

“We will no longer guess where to build a school, drill a borehole, or site a clinic,” he said. “The Nine‑Point Agenda gives us the framework; the MPI Report gives us the map. Together, they replace guesswork with geometry–clear targets, measurable indicators, and accountable outcomes.”

In their goodwill messages, representatives of UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, DRCN, and the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations praised the Sokoto State government for what they called a “trailblazing achievement.”

They noted that Sokoto is the first state in Northern Nigeria to conduct and launch its own sub‑national Multidimensional Poverty Index Report.

The occasion was witnessed by the Deputy Chairman II of the Committee and Chief of Staff, Government House Sokoto, Alhaji Aminu Haliru Dikko; members of the State Executive Council; permanent secretaries; chief executive officers of state agencies; and senior civil servants.

With the unveiling of the Nine‑Point Smart Agenda and the historic maiden MPI Report, Sokoto State has firmly planted its flag in the vanguard of evidence‑based governance. The message is clear–poverty will no longer be fought with slogans, but with science; not with assumptions, but with action.

*Mohammed is the Director, Press Affairs, Deputy Governor’s Office, Sokoto State.