The need for elites and the rich to support Federal government’s Social Investment Programmes and the fight against poverty cannot be overemphasized as a new dispensation kicks in.

Poverty is a state of not having enough material possessions or income for a person's basic needs while Absolute poverty is the complete lack of the means necessary to meet basic personal needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. Poverty occurs in both developing countries and developed countries. While poverty is much more widespread in developing countries, both types of countries usually undertake poverty reduction measures.

Poverty reduction or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty, This in Nigeria Includes National Home grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), TraderMOni, MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and Npower.

Those targeted in these programmes are petty-traders, enterpreneurs of MSMEs, the poorest of the poor (CCT), jobless youths (Npower) and pupils of Public primary schools across all states of the federation. The poorest of the poor belong within the class of absolute poverty while petty-traders and the unemployed youth can be categorized as poor.

Effects of Poverty on Individuals and the Family
Children born in poor families are much more likely to have low birth weight and infants living in poor households face higher rates of food insecurity, which impairs healthy development. As adults, lower-income individuals experience higher rates of illnesses, diseases and disabilities than those who earn higher incomes.
They are afflicted with higher rates of chronic diseases such as hypertension, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol. These conditions are exacerbated by the frequent lack of health insurance and access to medical care among lower-income individuals. Consequently, the life expectancies for poor individuals are much lower than those with high incomes.
Low-income and poor families face significant economic pressure as they struggle to pay bills and make ends meet. This economic pressure, coupled with other stressful events that are more prevalent in the lives of poor families, create high levels of psychological distress, including depression among poor parents.

Effects of Poverty on the Nation
Economic strength is based on a strong middle class with purchasing power to fuel our economy and workforce contributions to increase our economic growth and productivity but Poverty weakens the middle class which is the engine room for economic growth of all nations of the world. This is due to over dependence of the poor class. This is part of what we are experiencing presently in Nigeria
There’s an old adage that says, “An idle man is the devil’s work shop.” That’s the case for a large number people living in poverty. The lack of basic needs often leads them to crime. This we can see in the high rate of criminal activities currently ravaging the nation (ranging from Cyber crime {Yahoo Yahoo}, Arm-robbery, Kidnapping, Banditry, Terrorism and communal clashes). All these are results of poverty and inability to meet basic needs.
Way forward to safe guard the future of our Nation.
The Federal Government alone can’t end poverty in Nigeria. The State governments and the Private Sector which encompasses the Elites (Rich and the Wealthy) should also invest in the NSIPs or create their own model of helping the government in poverty reduction, or poverty alleviation programmes and also the religious organizations should also join the fight.
Finally I will personally appreciate President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo on their committed fight against poverty in Nigeria but they really need to intensify their efforts on the fight.

God bless Nigeria

Olasunkanmi from OAU, Ile-Ife