A recent survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed alarming statistics about the state of poverty and living standards in Nigeria, saying two-thirds of households lacked money to purchase healthy food.
The survey, titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” shows that two-thirds of households in the country lack the financial means to eat healthy, nutritious food.
“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days,” the survey report stated.
Furthermore, “63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”
The survey also highlighted the challenges faced by Nigerian households in accessing basic amenities like electricity and clean water. “82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas,” the report notes. Additionally, “Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.”
The NBS survey further revealed that many households lack access to proper toilet facilities and rely on informal waste disposal methods.
“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it said.
In terms of asset ownership, the survey shows a decline since 2018/19.
However, “two-thirds of households have mobile phones, and about 21.3 percent access the Internet.” Furthermore, “70.4 percent of households own their homes, with rural ownership at 80.1 percent, compared to 49.1 per cent in urban areas.”