Nigeria - Nigeria Living Standard Survey 2003, First round

version 1.2

2008-08-30

The national initiatives at poverty tracking started in Nigeria in the early 1990s between Federal Office of Statistics and the World Bank. At the inception, the National Consumer Surveys data set series for 1980-1996 were analysed which charted the profile of poverty in Nigeria. This culminated in a Poverty Profile for Nigeria Report (1980-1996) which has since served as bench-mark for monitoring and evaluation of various government anti-government poverty and policies. The Poverty Profile for Nigeria 2004 is the latest and a good follow-up to the previous one.

With the recognition by the Nigerian Government of the multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional nature of poverty, a number of coordinated programmes and policies had been formulated to combat poverty in all its ramifications. Among the programmes are National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and the Millennium Development Goals of the government which are aimed basically at poverty reduction. These programmes require a framework for poverty statistics production, management and tracking.

The Nigeria Living Standard Survey institutionalised by the Federal Office of Statistics provided a major survey mechanism framework for regular production, management and tracking of poverty programmes and policies. The recent Profile of Poverty for Nigeria as elucidated in this report is a commendable effort in providing current, timely and highly relevant poverty statistics and indicators for monitoring and evaluation of anti-poverty programmes and policies. The findings of the report chronicled the magnitude, nature, character and dimensions of poverty in Nigeria in 2004.

I have to give special thanks to the key stakeholders who contributed immensely to the success of the survey and the report. The stakeholders are the European Union, World Bank, Department for International Development and National Planning Commission.

I have to commend the professional competence and commitment of Federal Office of Statistics, the National Statistical Agency and for the provision of survey mechanism, infrastructures and personnels to implement the survey successfully.

Professor Ode Ojowu

Economic Adviser to the President of

Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Sample survey data [ssd]

Household and individual