Governance and Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria: Problems and Prospect

Nigeria is rich in land, people, oil and natural gas and other resources needed to bring about her development. Inspite of these abundant resources, majority of the people are still wallowing in poverty. The problem of governance readily comes to mind as Nigeria needs not remain at the present level of under development, at this stage of her national life. Therefore, lack of good governance has continued to be a missing link in Nigeria's development efforts. Nigeria has all it takes to guarantee a bright future, if more of its wealth are channeled to the development of its people and to the productive use of its land and other resources. This paper examines the concepts of governance and poverty as well as efforts at poverty alleviation in Nigeria. The paper recommends the involvement of non-governmental organizations to complement the efforts of government. It also recommends the participation of the people themselves in the activities that can pull them out of poverty.