Drawing a correlation between poverty and insecurity in Nigeria, public policy think-tank, Nextier, has advised President Bola Tinubu to implement a robust cash transfer programme for provision to the most affected households and those worst hit by his reforms.

“Reforms and removal of petrol subsidy are critical for rebuilding fiscal space and restoring macroeconomic stability. However, implementing a robust cash transfer programme to providing quick relief to the most affected households is necessary,” it said.

“The President should prioritise addressing how fiscal and monetary policies affects employment, prices and productivity to reduce the number of people pushed below the poverty line, said the report, published at the weekend by Joshua Biem, Nextier’s Policy and Research Analyst and Dr. Ndu Nwokolo, Managing Partner at Nextier and Honorary Fellow at the School of Government, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

The document, which highlighted impact of some government policies on economic fortunes of the populace, stressed the need for the Federal Government to simulate how the economy would be affected by unification of exchange rates attempted by the Tinubu administration to estimate external reserves for monetary policies.

It said: “A major limiting factor to interventions is a lack of continuity. Addressing the trend of lack of continuity by various government interventions should take priority.
“There is a need for an all-hand-on-deck approach to make the most from the proceeds of subsidy removal for fast development. Where development is successful, nations are gradually less vulnerable to violent conflict, facilitating further development.

“Countries are highly susceptible to falling into a conflict trap, where fighting ruins the economy and raises the likelihood of more insecurity when development fails,”

Biem and Nwokolo, while insisting that the prolonged poverty rate is one of the major drivers of insecurity in Nigeria, submitted: “Poverty and insecurity are interlinked, just as are wealth and security, as long as people are impoverished, security will remain a phantom.

“In an already tense conflict clime, economic reforms with both long- and short-term benefits require careful consideration and accompanying cushioning measures to achieve the desired goal.

“Establishment of the nexus between poverty and increased insecurity necessitates transparency and focus in the execution of reforms. This can be done with the aim of avoidance of fuelling the existing security challenges.”