No fewer than 25 million Nigerians are in need of humanitarian assistance every year, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, has said.
The minister made this known on Friday in Calabar during the maiden edition of the National Council on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
He also disclosed that about 60 per cent of Nigeria’s population is affected by multidimensional poverty, stressing the need to strengthen the capacity of sub-national governments, which he described as being at the forefront of addressing the challenge.
“Nigeria today faces stark realities. Over 25 million citizens require humanitarian assistance annually, while more than 60 per cent of the population lives in multidimensional poverty.
“States and local government areas are at the frontline of these challenges, and their capacity must be strengthened through financing, skills development, data integration, and institutional support, enabling locally led and context-specific solutions,” he stated.
Mr Doro said Nigeria’s humanitarian and poverty-related problems could no longer be tackled in isolation, through disjointed efforts, or by individual actors working independently.
He explained that the scale of the challenges requires effective coordination, policy alignment, and shared responsibility across all tiers of government and the wider society.
According to the minister, the council serves as the institutional mechanism for implementing the ministry’s vision of ‘One Humanitarian, One Poverty Reduction System’.
He noted that the framework is aimed at harmonising interventions, reducing duplication of efforts, aligning humanitarian responses with poverty reduction strategies, and ensuring that all stakeholders operate within a unified national structure.
In his remarks, the Deputy Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Yusuf Sununu, said the Federal Government remains receptive to ideas and practical solutions capable of improving the welfare of Nigerians.
Also speaking, the Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Peter Odey, assured that the state government would continue to deploy available resources to address challenges arising from the humanitarian situation.
