For this submission, I will compare poverty and inequality between the United States of America and
Nigeria.
Poverty.
Nigeria was a former British colony, and you would expect everything in Nigeria to be tailored towards
the British, that is a clear no! The Nigerian is like the United States in every aspect of the country and
how it manages its affairs. I grew up in Nigeria and migrated to the United States to seek greener
pastures.
Poverty in America is high and keeps increasing, so as well as in Nigeria. In the US, "The official
poverty rate in 2020 was 11.4 percent, up 1.0 percentage points from 10.5 percent in 2019" (USCB.
2022). The same goes for Nigeria: "The number of poor persons in Nigeria has had a four-year increase
of 14.7 percent from the 2018/19 figure of 82.1 million to the projected 95.1 million in 2022
(Businessday, Sep. 9, 2022)
These two countries, USA and Nigeria, are dealing with growing cases of poverty. The US is the
biggest economy in the world and Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, keeping the poverty rate
down in both countries is a task that can be quickly done, but the government of both countries does
not see poverty, they see growth and flourishing economy even though all the good things the
government see in terms of growth has little significant effects on the life of the average people in the
countries what are healthy numbers for the books when the masses of the people keep drowning in
poverty in high numbers at a faster rate?
Income Inequality.
This is a common concern worldwide, and the USA and Nigeria are not different on this issue either. In
the USA, "The degree of inequality is the largest in the industrialized world" (Pressbook, n.d, para. 3)
According to Sanders (2021), "The top 1% now own more than the bottom 92%, and the 50 wealthiest
Americans own more wealth than the bottom half of the American society (para. 4). The Nigerian
situation is just all the same as in the United States,
According to Oxfam (n. d.), "the combined wealth of Nigeria's five richest men - $29.9 billion could
end poverty at a National level yet 5 million faces hunger" (para. 2). Of the 200 million population in
Nigeria, more than 112 million are leaving in poverty and the richest man in Nigeria can spend $1
million a day for 42 years and will not exhaust his fortune.
The stories are different, but the same outcome, a high level of wealth inequality. The United States
creates an environment for rich people to thrive and keep their money without paying enough taxes or
little taxes, and the unequal wealth grows from all the tax savings and buoyant economy. The Nigerian
case is high and the mighty in the society controls the oil and the state resources directly in some case
and indirectly in some cases, and they continue to steal the wealth of the common man,