by Mohammed Bello Doka
When Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, shared and endorsed a presentation referencing Nigeria’s multidimensional poverty crisis, he did more than amplify a speech. He adopted its conclusions, owned its assumptions, and by implication projected the position of the Federal Government on one of the gravest social emergencies in the country’s history.
Let us be clear at the outset: Onanuga accepted—without dispute—that over 130 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor. That fact was not contested. It was acknowledged. What followed was not denial of the crisis, but something far more dangerous: the systematic attempt to absolve the Federal Government of responsibility for it.
By shifting blame almost entirely to state governments and the 774 local councils, Onanuga’s post effectively argues that Tinubu’s government bears no responsibility for poverty, has no obligation to fix it, and should not be judged by its worsening impact on the lives of ordinary Nigerians. That implication is not subtle. It is direct. And it is devastating.
The Claim: Poverty Is Not the Federal Government’s Responsibility
The core assertion endorsed by Onanuga is this:
That states and local governments are constitutionally empowered to provide “all the facilities” needed to lift Nigerians out of poverty, not the Federal Government.
This claim is constitutionally false, economically dishonest, and politically reckless.
Under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Federal Government controls the most powerful levers of economic life:
Monetary and exchange-rate policy
Customs, trade, and ports
Fuel pricing and subsidy policy
National taxation frameworks
Debt accumulation
Security and territorial control
These are not peripheral issues. They are the primary drivers of poverty.
Inflation is not set by local governments.
Currency devaluation is not decided by governors.
Fuel price hikes are not approved by LG chairmen.
Insecurity that empties farms and markets is not controlled by states.
To claim that the Federal Government has no responsibility for multidimensional poverty is to deny the basic architecture of the Nigerian state.
The Abuse of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)
Onanuga’s post leans on the Multidimensional Poverty Index, first released nationally in 2022 under the supervision of the then Ministry of National Planning, headed by Clement Agba, with data produced by the National Bureau of Statistics.
But this is where intellectual dishonesty enters.
The MPI measures deprivation.
It does not assign constitutional blame.
It does not exonerate the Federal Government.
Using MPI figures to argue that poverty is solely a state and local government failure is a political distortion of a statistical tool. The data does not say that. The authors did not say that. The methodology does not support that conclusion.
What Onanuga endorsed was not evidence-based analysis, but policy laundering—using statistics to mask accountability.
A Centralised State That Refuses Responsibility
Nigeria operates one of the most centralised federal systems in the world:
The Federal Government controls over half of national revenue
States depend almost entirely on monthly FAAC allocations
Local governments do not receive funds directly
Fiscal autonomy is routinely undermined by federal design
Yet, in the face of this centralisation, Onanuga argues that the same Federal Government should not be blamed for poverty.
This is a contradiction that cannot stand.
You cannot centralise power, revenue, security, and policy—and then decentralise blame.
Security Failure and Poverty: The Missing Truth
Millions of Nigerians are poor today because:
Farmers were driven off their land
Communities were displaced by banditry and insurgency
Food production collapsed
Prices exploded nationwide
Security is exclusively a Federal Government responsibility.
Any argument on poverty that ignores federal security failure is deliberately incomplete.
What Onanuga Is Really Saying About Tinubu’s Government
By shifting responsibility away from the centre, Onanuga has—by implication—said something far more damning than he may realise:
That Tinubu’s government is irrelevant to the daily suffering of Nigerians.
That it does not exist to address poverty.
That it should not be judged by living conditions.
If poverty is not the Federal Government’s responsibility, then what is the Federal Government for?
This is not a defence of Tinubu’s administration. It is an indictment of it.
Taxing the Poor, Then Blaming Others
Since May 29, 2023, Nigerians have endured:
Fuel subsidy removal
VAT pressure
Multiple levies
Currency collapse
Transport and food inflation
These are Federal Government decisions.
The poor have been taxed through:
Higher fuel prices
Higher food costs
Higher transport fares
Shrinking purchasing power
To extract wealth from the poor through federal policy and then shift responsibility for their suffering to governors is not reform. It is wicked, heartless governance.
Selective Responsibility as State Policy
When GDP figures improve, the Federal Government takes credit.
When inflation worsens, governors are blamed.
When poverty deepens, local governments are named.
This selective logic exposes the real agenda: power without accountability.
Conclusion
By endorsing this narrative, Bayo Onanuga has:
Accepted that over 130 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor
Attempted to absolve the Federal Government of responsibility
Contradicted constitutional reality
Distorted statistical evidence
Reduced the role of the presidency to ceremonial irrelevance
Poverty on this scale is not a local accident. It is the cumulative outcome of national policy choices, especially those made at the centre.
History will not accept this rewriting.
Data does not support it.
The Constitution does not allow it.
And Nigerians, living the consequences daily, know better.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
Abuja Network News
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