Guest columnist Emem Bassey uses her latest piece to argue that Nigeria’s most pressing divide is not ethnic or religious but economic, noting that “there are only two tribes: the rich and the poor.” She writes that the country’s abundant human and natural resources coexist with a staggering level of deprivation, prompting a call for a fairer distribution of opportunity.
Bassey points out that Nigerians identify with a multitude of ethnic groups—Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Efik, Ibibio, Tiv, Ijaw, Fulani, among others—and with differing religious and regional affiliations. Yet she contends that these identities mask a deeper split: wealth functions as a passport to better health, education, security and political influence, while poverty becomes a sentence of hardship.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index survey, about 133 million Nigerians—roughly 63 percent of those surveyed—were classified as multidimensionally poor, a measure that looks beyond income to include health, education, living standards and work. The survey also showed that poverty is markedly higher in rural areas than in urban centres. A 2026 analysis by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) confirms that poverty rose between the 2018/19 and 2022/23 survey periods, attributing the increase to weak economic growth, limited productive opportunities and gaps in social protection.
The columnist distinguishes between inequality (differences in income or outcomes) and inequity (unfair, avoidable differences rooted in unjust circumstances). She argues that when a child’s access to quality schooling, nutrition and healthcare depends on parental wealth, or when medical treatment is tied to ability to pay, society moves from ordinary inequality to systemic inequity.
While celebrating Nigeria’s potential—as Africa’s most populous nation with vast oil, gas, agricultural land and a vibrant creative sector—Bassey urges policymakers to address the failure to distribute opportunities and manage public wealth. She concludes that a truly progressive society must ensure that no citizen is condemned to deprivation, regardless of the circumstances of birth.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>