The Sokoto State Government has initiated a fresh Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) survey aimed at reassessing poverty levels and developing more effective strategies to combat the challenge.
This move follows concerns over the 2022 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report that labeled Sokoto among Nigeria’s poorest states.
Dr. Abubakar Zayyana, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, explained that while the 2022 NBS methodology was not entirely flawed, it lacked sufficient detail to draw firm conclusions. “The methodology is not too bad, but it is not sufficient to make any general findings; that is why, in conjunction with Redware, we decided to conduct our own MPI survey in Sokoto, using 2022 as a benchmark to see what has changed over time,” he said.
With the approval of Governor Ahmed Aliyu, the new survey has been completed and data analysis is currently underway. Preliminary findings suggest positive developments, although there is still much progress to be made. The government plans to publish the full results once the analysis is finalized.
Dr. Zayyana highlighted Sokoto’s rich resource base as a critical asset in addressing poverty, stressing the importance of better coordination among ministries and agencies to ensure effective poverty reduction initiatives.
Additionally, Sokoto is embracing the federal government’s new ward-based deployment strategy recently introduced at the National Economic Council meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu. This approach targets poverty reduction starting at the grassroots, across Nigeria’s 8,086 wards, by assessing local potential, population dynamics, and youth demographics.
“This bottom-up approach allows data from the grassroots level to guide planning and ensure interventions match the specific needs of each community,” noted the commissioner. “This will help us see exactly how to address the issue of poverty from the ward level up.”
