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From: Emem Bassey
Guest columnist
Humanity has devised countless ways of dividing itself. We divide ourselves by race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, language, political affiliation and social status. In Nigeria, these divisions are particularly pronounced. We identify ourselves as Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Efik, Ibibio, Tiv, Ijaw, Fulani and members of numerous other ethnic groups. We distinguish between Christians and Muslims, northerners and southerners, indigenes and settlers, and supporters of one political party or another.
Yet, beneath these familiar identities lies a more fundamental division that often determines the quality of our lives, the opportunities available to us and even our chances of survival. It is the division between the rich and the poor.
“There are only two tribes: the rich and the poor”.
This statement is not intended to deny the beauty of cultural diversity or the importance of ethnic and religious identities. Rather, it invites us to examine a more uncomfortable reality: when access to healthcare, quality education, justice, security, political influence and economic opportunity depends largely on one’s financial circumstances, wealth begins to function like a passport to a better life, while poverty becomes a sentence to unnecessary hardship.
The rich and the poor may worship in the same churches and mosques, speak the same languages, share the same ancestral origins and even live in the same communities. Yet they often inhabit entirely different worlds.
One world offers choices, comfort, security and second chances. The other offers uncertainty, deprivation, humiliation and a daily struggle for survival.
Nowhere is this contradiction more deserving of attention than in Nigeria, a country blessed with enormous human and natural resources, yet burdened by persistent poverty, unequal opportunities and preventable suffering.
The fundamental question is not whether some people will be wealthier than others. Differences in income and achievement exist in every society. The real question is whether the circumstances of birth should determine the opportunities available to a person, whether poverty should deprive citizens of their basic rights and whether a society can justifiably call itself progressive when prosperity exists alongside widespread deprivation.
The Nigerian Paradox: Abundance Amid Deprivation
Nigeria is a country of extraordinary possibilities. It possesses oil and gas, fertile agricultural land, a dynamic entrepreneurial population, abundant mineral resources, a vibrant creative industry and a large pool of talented professionals. Nigerians have distinguished themselves in medicine, science, technology, business, sports, academia and the arts, both at home and abroad. Yet the benefits of this potential have not been shared equitably.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported in its 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index survey that approximately 133 million Nigerians, representing 63 per cent of the population measured in that survey, were multidimensionally poor. This measure considers deprivation in areas such as health, education, living standards and work, rather than income alone. The report also found substantially higher multidimensional poverty in rural areas than in urban areas. These are figures from the 2021/2022 survey period, not a measurement of today’s exact poverty rate, but they reveal the scale and depth of the country’s development challenge. (National Bureau of Statistics, 2022).
More recent analysis by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, published in 2026, highlights how poverty increased between the 2018/2019 and 2022/2023 survey periods, while also emphasizing the roles of weak economic growth, inadequate productive opportunities and shortcomings in social protection. (UNCTAD, 2026).
These figures represent far more than statistical observations. Behind every percentage are human beings: children who go to school hungry, families who cannot afford essential medicines, young graduates who search endlessly for employment, farmers who struggle to move their produce to markets, and elderly citizens who approach the final years of their lives without dependable financial security.
The tragedy is not simply that Nigeria has poor people. Poverty exists in every country. The tragedy is that a nation with such enormous potential continues to tolerate levels of deprivation that deny millions of citizens the opportunity to live healthy, productive and dignified lives.
We must, therefore, ask ourselves: is our problem merely a shortage of resources or is it also a failure to distribute opportunities, manage public wealth and build institutions that serve the common good?
1. Inequality and Inequity: Understanding the Difference
Although often used interchangeably, inequality and inequity are not identical.
Inequality describes differences in income, wealth, opportunities or outcomes. Inequity refers to differences that are unfair, avoidable or rooted in unjust circumstances.
For example, two individuals may earn different incomes because they have different skills, responsibilities or levels of experience. That difference does not automatically constitute an injustice.
However, when one child receives excellent education, adequate nutrition, good healthcare and access to influential networks while another child is denied these basic opportunities because of the poverty of their parents, the difference becomes more than an ordinary variation in circumstances. It becomes a question of fairness.
Similarly, when access to medical treatment depends on the ability to pay rather than the urgency of a patient’s condition, or when public appointments and contracts are influenced by connections rather than merit, society moves beyond inequality into inequity.
The objective of a just society is not to make everyone equally wealthy. It is to ensure that no one is condemned to deprivation and that everyone has a fair opportunity to fulfil their potential.
This distinction is particularly important for Nigeria. Our national conversation must move beyond envy of the wealthy or the assumption that every difference in income is evidence of wrongdoing. We must instead confront the structures that allow privilege to reproduce itself while trapping others in disadvantage.
2. The Inequality of Birth: When Destiny Is Determined Before Life Begins
Perhaps the most disturbing manifestation of inequality is the unequal distribution of opportunity at birth. A child born into a wealthy Nigerian family may have access to excellent nutrition, a well-equipped private school, experienced teachers, digital technology, extracurricular activities and international exposure. If the child becomes ill, the family may afford prompt specialist attention at a leading private hospital or travel abroad for treatment.
Another child, born in a poor rural household, may lack adequate nutrition, attend an overcrowded school without sufficient teachers, study in an environment without electricity and walk long distances to obtain basic healthcare.
Both children may possess equal intelligence, curiosity and potential. Yet their prospects are profoundly different.
The first child may be encouraged to dream of becoming a surgeon, engineer, scientist or entrepreneur. The second may be forced to abandon education early to support the family.
This is how poverty becomes intergenerational. Disadvantage is transmitted from parents to children, not necessarily because the children lack ability, but because the resources required to develop that ability are unavailable.
The problem becomes even more troubling when we consider that the second child may eventually be described as lazy, unambitious or unsuccessful, while the first is praised as a product of exceptional talent.
We celebrate achievement without always acknowledging the advantages that made achievement possible.
A fair society must recognise individual effort while acknowledging the role of opportunity. Talent is widely distributed across humanity; the conditions required for talent to flourish are not.
3. Education: A Ladder of Opportunity That Is Unequally Available
Education is often described as the great equaliser. In principle, it enables children from disadvantaged backgrounds to acquire knowledge, develop skills and improve their social and economic circumstances.
In practice, however, the quality of education available to Nigerian children often reflects their parents’ financial position.
We have wealthy families who can afford expensive private schools, qualified tutors, computers, reliable internet access and overseas university education. At the other end of the spectrum are children who attend schools with inadequate classrooms, insufficient teaching materials, limited sanitation and shortages of qualified teachers.
Some families struggle to pay school fees or provide uniforms, books and transport. Others must choose between educating their children and meeting immediate household needs.
The consequences extend far beyond childhood. Poor educational foundations limit access to higher education, professional employment and entrepreneurship. They can also weaken a person’s confidence and ability to participate meaningfully in public life.
Public universities, which should provide pathways to social mobility, are also affected by inadequate infrastructure, funding pressures and interruptions to academic activities. Families who can afford alternatives are better positioned to protect their children’s educational progress.
The result is a system in which wealth increasingly determines the quality and continuity of learning.
This is not merely an educational problem. It is a national development problem. A country cannot realise its full potential when the abilities of millions of its young people remain undeveloped because their families cannot afford the opportunities available to others.
Education should not be a privilege reserved for those who can pay. It should be a national investment in the capacity of every citizen.
4. Healthcare: When the Ability to Pay Determines the Right to Live
Few areas expose the divide between the rich and the poor as starkly as healthcare.
Illness does not discriminate according to ethnicity, religion or social class. Cancer, hypertension, diabetes, obstetric emergencies, infections and traumatic injuries can affect anyone.
Yet the consequences of illness are often determined by the patient’s financial resources.
A wealthy patient may have access to private hospitals, specialist consultations, advanced diagnostic investigations, modern medicines and intensive care. When necessary, that patient may seek treatment abroad.
A poor patient may arrive at a public hospital only after exhausting personal savings, borrowing money or selling family possessions. Some delay seeking care because they cannot afford transport, consultation fees, medicines or diagnostic tests. Others abandon treatment because the cost becomes unbearable.
For pregnant women, the consequences can be devastating. A woman experiencing obstructed labour, severe bleeding or eclampsia needs timely, competent emergency obstetric care. The difference between receiving that care promptly and receiving it too late may be the difference between life and death.
Children whose families cannot afford adequate nutrition, immunisation, treatment or safe living conditions also bear a disproportionate burden of preventable illness.
Nigeria’s healthcare financing challenges deepen these disparities. The Commonwealth Fund’s current Nigeria profile, which draws on available international health-system and health-expenditure data, describes the substantial role of out-of-pocket spending in Nigerian healthcare. According to the 2026 Commonwealth Fund International Health Care System Profile: Nigeria, the following figures are reported: Out-of-pocket expenditure in 2023 was 70.94% of current healthcare expenditure (Commonwealth Fund 2026). When households must pay directly for much of their care, illness can push already vulnerable families further into poverty. This is an unacceptable contradiction in a society that recognises health as essential to human dignity.
The irony is that the poor often depend most heavily on public healthcare, yet public facilities may struggle with inadequate funding, shortages of essential equipment, insufficient personnel and gaps in infrastructure. Meanwhile, those with greater means can seek alternatives.
The solution is not to deny the wealthy access to quality healthcare. It is to ensure that the poor are not denied essential care because they lack money. A civilised society should not make a person’s bank balance the deciding factor in whether a treatable illness becomes a death sentence.
5. The Inequality of Justice: One Law, Different Experiences
Justice is supposed to be blind. It should not distinguish between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless. Yet the practical experience of justice can differ considerably according to a person’s financial circumstances and social connections.
A wealthy individual can engage experienced lawyers, pursue appeals, obtain expert advice and sustain prolonged legal proceedings. A poor individual may struggle to secure legal representation, understand legal procedures or even afford transport to court.
Pre-trial detention, delays in the administration of justice and limited access to legal assistance can impose especially severe burdens on people with few resources. Even when a person has a legitimate claim, the cost and complexity of pursuing it may make justice practically inaccessible.
The same concerns arise in interactions with public institutions. Citizens who possess influential connections may find it easier to obtain attention, resolve administrative difficulties or secure opportunities. Those without such connections may face delays, neglect or demands that should never arise in a properly functioning public service.
This does not mean that every wealthy person escapes accountability or that every poor person is treated unfairly. It means that financial power can create advantages that undermine the principle of equal treatment. The true test of a justice system is not how it treats the influential individual who can command attention, but how it protects the ordinary citizen who has no influence to exercise. Justice must be affordable, accessible, timely and impartial. Otherwise, equality before the law remains a constitutional promise that many citizens cannot fully experience.
6. Political Power and the Privatisation of Public Opportunity
Democracy is founded on the principle that every citizen’s voice matters. However, economic inequality can undermine political equality. In Nigeria, political participation can be costly. Campaigns require resources, and political influence may depend on networks, patronage and the capacity to mobilise financial support.
The poor may be courted during elections through gifts, food, cash or other temporary inducements. Yet after the elections, they may discover that the services they desperately need reliable electricity, clean water, functional schools, affordable healthcare, security and employment remain inadequate. This creates a troubling cycle. Poverty makes people vulnerable to short-term inducements, while weak public services make them increasingly dependent on political patrons.
In such circumstances, citizenship risks becoming transactional. Instead of receiving public services as a right, individuals may feel compelled to seek favours from those who control public resources. The problem is compounded when public office is treated as an avenue for personal enrichment rather than a responsibility to serve the people.
Public contracts, appointments and access to government programmes should be determined by transparent rules, competence, need and public interest. When they are allocated through favouritism, public resources cease to function as instruments of development and become mechanisms for preserving privilege. Political leadership must therefore be judged not merely by the promises made during campaigns, but by the measurable improvements it delivers to the lives of ordinary citizens.
7. Ethnicity and Religion: The Divisions That Conceal Our Shared Struggle
Nigeria’s ethnic and religious diversity is one of its defining characteristics. It is a source of cultural richness, historical identity and social strength. Nevertheless, ethnic and religious differences are sometimes exploited to distract citizens from shared socioeconomic challenges.
A poor Hausa farmer and a poor Igbo trader may speak different languages, practise different religions and live thousands of kilometres apart. Yet both may struggle with rising food prices, unreliable electricity, expensive healthcare, insecurity and limited access to credit.
A wealthy Christian and a wealthy Muslim may have far more in common in their access to private healthcare, quality education, financial services and influential networks than either has with a poor person of the same religion. This is the uncomfortable truth behind the title of this essay.
Poverty can create a bond across ethnic and religious boundaries, just as wealth can create privileges that transcend them. However, we must be careful not to oversimplify. Ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, geographical location and historical exclusion can independently shape a person’s opportunities. In some circumstances, these identities interact with poverty and intensify disadvantage.
The answer, therefore, is not to dismiss ethnic or religious inequality. It is to recognise that these inequalities frequently intersect with economic disadvantage and must be addressed together. A Nigerian child should not be denied a good school because of where the child was born. A patient should not be denied essential treatment because of religion. A qualified individual should not be excluded from employment because of ethnicity. And no citizen should be considered less deserving of public services because they belong to a minority group or live in a neglected region. National unity will become more meaningful when citizens experience fairness in their everyday lives, rather than being asked to celebrate unity while enduring avoidable deprivation.
8. Gender Inequality: Poverty’s Unequal Burden on Women and Girls
The rich-poor divide also has a gender dimension. Women and girls in disadvantaged households may experience overlapping barriers to education, employment, property ownership, financial independence and access to healthcare.
When a family faces financial hardship, girls may be withdrawn from school to support domestic work, care for younger siblings or enter early marriages. Women working in the informal economy may have limited access to credit, social insurance, maternity protection and secure employment. Unpaid care work, including caring for children, sick relatives and older family members, also imposes substantial demands on women’s time and economic opportunities.
Maternal health illustrates this inequity particularly clearly. A woman’s ability to survive pregnancy and childbirth should never depend on whether her family can afford an emergency caesarean section, blood transfusion or referral to a suitably equipped facility. Similarly, women who experience gender-based violence may be unable to leave abusive circumstances because they lack independent income, secure housing or access to support services.
These disadvantages can reinforce one another. Limited education reduces employment opportunities; limited income increases dependence; and dependence may make it harder to escape exploitation.
Addressing inequality therefore requires deliberate measures to educate girls, protect women’s rights, expand economic opportunities, improve maternal healthcare and support survivors of violence. A society cannot claim to have achieved inclusive development while half its population faces avoidable barriers to participation and advancement.
9. The Rural-Urban Divide and the Geography of Disadvantage
Where a Nigerian is born or lives can substantially influence access to opportunity. Urban centres generally offer greater concentrations of hospitals, schools, universities, financial institutions, markets and employment opportunities. Yet even within cities, residents of informal settlements may lack adequate sanitation, secure housing, reliable electricity and accessible healthcare.
In rural communities, the challenges may be more severe. Poor roads increase transport costs and impede access to markets. Inadequate electricity limits economic activity. Weak internet connectivity restricts access to digital education and commercial opportunities. Long distances to health facilities can delay treatment during emergencies.
Farmers may produce valuable crops but realise little income because they lack storage, processing facilities, affordable credit and reliable routes to market. Much of the value created by their labour may be captured elsewhere in the supply chain.
Nigeria’s multidimensional poverty data demonstrate that rural deprivation is particularly significant. The 2022 survey recorded a much higher incidence of multidimensional poverty in rural areas than in urban areas. (National Bureau of Statistics, 2022). These disparities are not inevitable consequences of geography. They reflect, in part, decisions about public investment, infrastructure, service delivery and economic planning.
Balanced development requires more than constructing visible projects in major cities. It requires ensuring that citizens in rural and underserved communities can access the basic infrastructure and services necessary for productive lives.
10. Unemployment, Underemployment and the Dignity of Work
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Work provides more than income. It offers independence, purpose, dignity and the ability to contribute to society. For many Nigerians, however, securing decent employment remains a formidable challenge. Young graduates may spend years seeking opportunities that match their qualifications. Skilled professionals may accept poorly paid jobs unrelated to their training. Others may turn to informal work, petty trading or precarious activities simply to survive.
The problem is not confined to people without formal education. Even educated Nigerians can experience economic insecurity when the economy fails to generate enough productive employment. This creates a painful contradiction: families make enormous sacrifices to educate their children, yet the qualifications acquired do not necessarily translate into financial independence.
Meanwhile, young people from wealthy families may benefit from family businesses, professional networks, capital and opportunities to study or work abroad. Those from poorer backgrounds may have to finance their own job searches while supporting relatives.
Entrepreneurship is often presented as the solution, but starting a business requires more than determination. It requires access to capital, electricity, infrastructure, markets, information and a predictable regulatory environment. A society that encourages entrepreneurship without addressing these structural barriers risks blaming individuals for failures that arise partly from the environment in which they operate.
Nigeria needs an economy that creates productive jobs, supports small businesses, develops technical skills and rewards innovation. It must also recognise agriculture, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, education and the digital economy as potential engines of employment. The objective should not be merely to create jobs in numerical terms, but to create decent and productive work that enables people to support themselves and their families.
11. The Psychological and Moral Cost of Inequality
The consequences of inequality extend beyond material deprivation. Persistent poverty can undermine self-esteem, generate feelings of exclusion and make people believe that their lives matter less than those of the privileged. Imagine a parent who cannot afford to buy food for a child, a patient who must plead for assistance to obtain essential medication, or a graduate who watches less qualified but better-connected individuals secure employment. Such experiences can produce frustration, resentment, hopelessness and a profound loss of trust in institutions.
At the other extreme, extreme privilege can create social distance. Those who have always enjoyed access to quality services may gradually lose sight of the difficulties faced by people who lack the same opportunities. When wealthy citizens can obtain essential services privately, they may have fewer incentives to demand improvements in public institutions. Over time, the public systems that serve the majority may deteriorate further, deepening the divide.
Inequality can also weaken social cohesion, undermine confidence in the rule of law and contribute to insecurity. Although poverty alone does not cause crime or violence, severe deprivation combined with exclusion, weak institutions and limited opportunities can increase social vulnerability.
The moral challenge is therefore not simply to redistribute material resources. It is to preserve a shared sense of citizenship, the conviction that every person’s life has value and that public institutions owe every citizen fairness and respect.
12. Is Wealth the Problem, or Is It the Way Society Is Organised?
It is important to clarify that wealth itself is not the enemy. Society needs entrepreneurs, investors, farmers, professionals, innovators and businesses that generate value, create jobs and contribute to economic growth. Wealth acquired through productive enterprise, innovation, responsible investment and legitimate effort can be a powerful force for development.
The problem arises when wealth becomes detached from social responsibility, when economic power is used to secure unfair advantages, when public resources are diverted for private benefit, or when institutions systematically protect privilege at the expense of the common good.
Likewise, poverty should not be romanticised. It deprives people of choices, exposes families to avoidable risks and prevents many talented individuals from contributing fully to society. Nor should every poor person be portrayed as a victim without agency or every wealthy person as exploitative. People make different choices, work under different circumstances and encounter different opportunities.
The central issue is whether the rules of society allow people to advance through legitimate effort and whether those who experience disadvantage have a fair chance to improve their circumstances. A just society does not punish success. It ensures that success is not dependent on exploitation, corruption or inherited privilege alone. It does not seek to make the poor permanently dependent on assistance. It equips them with the health, education, skills, infrastructure and opportunities required to become productive and economically independent.
The goal is not a society without wealth differences. It is a society in which wealth differences do not translate into unequal human worth, denied basic rights or permanently unequal opportunities.
Then, The Way Forward is Building a Fairer Nigeria
Recognising the problem is only the beginning. If the rich-poor divide is to become less entrenched, Nigeria must move beyond rhetoric and adopt practical, measurable and sustainable reforms.
A. Make quality education accessible to every child. Government at all levels must prioritise foundational learning, teacher recruitment and training, functional classrooms, learning materials, digital access and school infrastructure.
Public schools should offer an education that prepares children for meaningful participation in the modern economy, regardless of their parents’ income. Provision of targeted scholarships, school meals, transport assistance and support for children with disabilities can help reduce barriers that keep disadvantaged children out of school.
Technical and vocational education should be strengthened to provide young people with practical skills relevant to industry, agriculture, construction, healthcare, manufacturing and emerging technologies. Lastly education spending should be monitored to ensure that allocations translate into better learning outcomes rather than merely larger budgets.
Importantly, Build a healthcare system that protects the poor. Healthcare must be treated as a social investment and an essential public responsibility. Nigeria should strengthen primary healthcare, improve referral systems, recruit and retain health workers, provide essential medicines and diagnostic services, and ensure that public hospitals receive predictable and adequate funding.
The National Health Insurance Authority and state health insurance schemes should expand effective coverage, particularly for poor and vulnerable households. Enrolment must be accompanied by reliable benefits, accessible services and timely payment to healthcare providers.
Public financing should prioritise essential services, maternal and child health, immunisation, emergency care, prevention and treatment of major diseases. Hospitals should not be forced to depend excessively on patients’ immediate ability to pay for essential services. At the same time, healthcare financing must be designed sustainably, with transparent purchasing, efficient procurement and strong accountability. Every Nigerian should have access to essential healthcare without being pushed into financial hardship.
Again, create productive employment and expand economic opportunity. Nigeria needs an economy that generates opportunities beyond government employment and the informal survival economy. This requires investment in agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, renewable energy, transport, housing, tourism, healthcare, technology and other productive sectors.
Small and medium-sized enterprises should have improved access to affordable financing, reliable electricity, markets, business development support and simplified regulatory processes. Agriculture should move beyond subsistence production towards modern, commercially viable value chains that include storage, processing, logistics and access to markets.
Technical education and apprenticeship programmes should be aligned with the skills employers need. Young people should also receive support to develop viable enterprises, not merely attend short training programmes without access to capital or markets.
The success of economic policy should be measured partly by whether ordinary households experience improvements in real incomes, job security and living standards.
D. Strengthen social protection and protect the most vulnerable. Even in a growing economy, some people will require support because of disability, old age, illness, unemployment, displacement or other circumstances. Nigeria needs a social protection system that is adequately funded, transparent, accessible and responsive to genuine need.
Targeted cash transfers, school feeding, disability support, pensions, maternity protection and emergency assistance can prevent vulnerable households from falling into deeper poverty. Beneficiary identification should use reliable, regularly updated data, with independent verification, clear eligibility criteria and accessible complaints mechanisms.
These programmes must be protected against political manipulation, duplicate payments, diversion and the exclusion of eligible households. Social protection should be linked, where appropriate, to education, skills development, healthcare and economic opportunities, helping people move towards greater independence.
E. Reform public finance and make taxation fairer. A fair society requires a public revenue system that can finance essential services without imposing disproportionate burdens on low-income households. Nigeria must improve tax administration, reduce evasion, broaden compliance fairly and ensure that those with greater capacity to contribute meet their lawful obligations. Tax policy should however protect low-income households from excessive burdens on essential goods and services, while addressing preferential treatment, unjustified exemptions and opportunities for avoidance.
Public expenditure must also become more transparent. Citizens should be able to understand how public revenue is raised, how budgets are allocated, what projects are completed and whether the intended beneficiaries receive the benefits.
Government should prioritise investments with broad social returns, including education, healthcare, water, sanitation, transport, electricity and rural infrastructure. Fiscal reforms must be accompanied by credible accountability. Raising more revenue is not sufficient if public money is wasted or diverted.
F. Fight corruption and strengthen public institutions. Corruption is particularly damaging in an unequal society because it diverts resources from services that could improve the lives of millions. Money intended for schools, hospitals, roads, water projects and social programmes should not disappear through inflated contracts, abandoned projects, procurement manipulation or diversion of public funds.
Public procurement should be competitive, transparent and independently auditable. Public officials should declare and manage conflicts of interest in accordance with the law. Investigations and prosecutions should follow due process and apply consistently, regardless of the status of those involved. Recruitment and promotion in public institutions should be based on transparent criteria, competence and fairness.
Institutions responsible for auditing public expenditure, enforcing standards and investigating wrongdoing must be adequately resourced and able to perform their duties independently within the law. The purpose of anti-corruption measures should not be merely to punish wrongdoing. It should also be to prevent the diversion of resources and restore public confidence in the use of national wealth.
G. Guarantee equal access to justice. Legal aid should be strengthened so that people who cannot afford private legal representation can still defend their rights. Courts need adequate resources, efficient case management and measures to reduce unnecessary delays. Citizens should have access to understandable information about their rights and the procedures for seeking redress. Law enforcement must operate professionally and respect the rights of every citizen.
Public appointments, contracts, scholarships and other opportunities should be governed by clear rules that can be scrutinised and challenged when necessary. A person’s wealth, political affiliation, ethnicity or social connections should never determine whether the law protects them or holds them accountable.
H. Invest in neglected communities and reduce regional disparities. Development planning should be guided by need and evidence rather than political visibility alone. Rural roads, electricity, clean water, sanitation, broadband connectivity, primary healthcare and schools should receive sustained attention.
Federal, state and local governments should work together to identify underserved communities, establish measurable service-delivery targets and publish progress reports. Agricultural communities need storage facilities, irrigation where appropriate, extension services, affordable financing and market access. Insecurity must also be addressed because it destroys livelihoods, displaces families, disrupts education and discourages investment.
Equitable development does not mean allocating identical resources to every community regardless of need. It means directing resources in a manner that gives disadvantaged populations a fair opportunity to achieve comparable access to essential services.
I. Empower women and protect disadvantaged groups. Girls’ education, women’s economic participation, maternal healthcare and protection against gender-based violence should be integral to national development policy. Women need fair access to employment, business financing, land and property rights, professional advancement and social protection.
People with disabilities should have accessible schools, workplaces, public transport and healthcare services, as well as meaningful opportunities to participate in decision-making.
Policies should also be put in place to address the specific needs of displaced populations, children without adequate parental care, older people and other groups facing heightened vulnerability.
Equity sometimes requires targeted assistance because treating people identically does not necessarily correct disadvantages that already exist.
J. Build a culture of responsible leadership and citizenship. Government cannot solve every problem without the participation of citizens, businesses, professional bodies, civil society, traditional institutions, religious organisations and community groups.
Political leaders must demonstrate integrity, accountability and a commitment to public service. Businesses should provide decent working conditions, comply with tax obligations and contribute responsibly to the communities in which they operate.
Professionals should uphold ethical standards and use their expertise to improve public institutions. Religious and community leaders should promote compassion, fairness and peaceful coexistence rather than prejudice or exclusion.
Citizens must also demand accountability, reject electoral inducements that undermine democratic choice, pay lawful taxes and participate constructively in public affairs.
Philanthropy and charity can relieve immediate suffering, but they cannot substitute for well-functioning public institutions. Sustainable progress requires a combination of individual generosity, responsible enterprise and effective government.
K. Establish measurable targets for reducing inequity. Reforms must be evaluated by their impact on people’s lives, not simply by the number of programmes announced. Nigeria should regularly monitor indicators such as school completion and learning outcomes, essential healthcare coverage, catastrophic health expenditure, access to clean water and electricity, decent employment, household food security and poverty across geographical and socioeconomic groups.
Budgets and programme results should be published in accessible formats. Independent evaluation should identify what works, what fails and where resources need to be redirected. Federal, state and local governments should be held accountable for measurable improvements in the communities they serve.
The ultimate test of progress is whether a child born into a poor household has a better chance of obtaining a good education, remaining healthy, finding decent work and living with dignity than the generation before.
14. The Responsibility of the Wealthy: Beyond Charity to Social Justice
Although government has the primary responsibility for providing public services and establishing fair institutions, those who possess wealth also have an important role to play. Wealth brings opportunities, but it can also bring obligations. Successful individuals and businesses benefit from the institutions, infrastructure, labour, markets and social stability that society provides. Their prosperity is therefore not entirely detached from the contributions of others.
The wealthy can support scholarships, healthcare programmes, research, vocational training, entrepreneurship and community development. They can create decent jobs, pay taxes responsibly, invest in underserved areas and promote ethical business practices.
However, we must distinguish between charity and justice. Charity provides assistance to those in need. Justice seeks to ensure that people are not unnecessarily placed in conditions of deprivation in the first place. We must however acknowledge philanthropic organisations like the Aliko Dangote, TY Danjuma, Tony Elumelu and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundations to mention a few which play a complementary but increasingly important role in strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare system, particularly in addressing gaps in public financing and reducing out-of-pocket expenditure.
A wealthy individual who donates money to build a school performs a valuable service. But a society in which every child can attend a functional school without depending on the generosity of a benefactor is making a deeper and more sustainable commitment to justice. Similarly, philanthropy can help patients obtain treatment, but a dependable health financing system is needed so that access to essential healthcare does not depend on whether a donor happens to be available.
We should encourage generosity without allowing philanthropy to become an excuse for governmental failure. The ultimate objective is a society in which people are free to give because they care, rather than because public institutions have abandoned their responsibilities.
15. The Role of the Individual: What Can Each of Us Do?
It is tempting to regard inequality as a problem that only governments can solve. Government policy is essential, but social transformation also requires individual responsibility. Each of us can challenge prejudice, refuse to discriminate against people because of their social or economic circumstances, mentor young people, support credible community initiatives and treat every person with dignity.
Employers can recruit fairly and provide opportunities based on merit. Professionals can volunteer their skills. Community leaders can identify vulnerable households and connect them with appropriate services. Citizens can report corruption, demand transparency and support institutions that protect the public interest.
We should also examine the ways in which our everyday attitudes reinforce inequality. Do we treat people differently because of their clothing, occupation, accent or perceived wealth? Do we value individuals for their character and contribution, or primarily for what they possess? Do we regard domestic workers, artisans, cleaners, security guards and other low-paid workers as people deserving of respect?
The rich-poor divide is sustained not only by economic structures but also by attitudes that associate wealth with importance and poverty with personal failure. Every individual has a responsibility to challenge this mindset. We must remember that financial circumstances can change. A person who is prosperous today may encounter misfortune tomorrow, while a person experiencing hardship may eventually achieve remarkable success. Human dignity should never be conditional on economic status.
Conclusion: One Humanity, One Shared Destiny
There are many tribes in Nigeria, and each contributes to the cultural richness of our nation. Yet beneath these identities lies a socioeconomic divide that profoundly shapes the lives of our citizens. The rich and the poor often experience different standards of education, healthcare, justice, security and political influence. One group can purchase alternatives when public systems fail; the other must endure the consequences.
The most troubling aspect of this divide is not that some people possess more wealth than others. It is that poverty can deprive people of the very opportunities required to escape it. It is that the circumstances of birth can determine the quality of education a child receives, the treatment available to a sick person and the prospects of a young person entering adulthood.
Nigeria cannot build a truly united nation while millions of citizens feel excluded from its prosperity. National unity cannot rest on slogans alone. It must be strengthened by fairness, shared opportunity, effective institutions and a genuine commitment to the welfare of every citizen.
We must move away from a society in which access to quality education depends on parental income, where healthcare is a financial gamble, where justice is prohibitively expensive and where political influence determines access to public resources. We must build a society in which public schools offer meaningful opportunities, hospitals provide essential care, institutions apply the law fairly, businesses create productive employment and public resources are managed for the benefit of all.
This will require responsible leadership, sustained investment, institutional reform, public accountability and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths about how our society distributes opportunity. It will also require us to reject the false assumption that helping the poor diminishes the rich. A healthier, better educated, more productive and more secure population benefits everyone. Inequality that excludes millions from productive participation ultimately weakens the economic and social foundations upon which prosperity depends.
The true measure of a nation’s greatness is not merely the number of billionaires it produces, the size of its economy or the splendour of its most affluent neighbourhoods. It is also the condition of its poorest communities, the opportunities available to its most disadvantaged children and the dignity with which it treats its most vulnerable citizens. A nation is not truly prosperous when a few live in extraordinary comfort while millions struggle for the basic necessities of life. It is prosperous when its wealth creates opportunity, protects dignity and improves the lives of its people.
Perhaps, then, the most important question is not whether there are only two tribes, the rich and the poor, but why we have allowed the distance between them to become so consequential. We may never eliminate every difference in wealth. But we can build a society in which poverty does not deny a child an education, prevent a patient from receiving essential treatment, silence a citizen before the law or rob a young person of hope. We can create a Nigeria in which success is possible without privilege, public service is not an instrument of personal enrichment, and compassion is reinforced by justice.
Let us therefore strive for a nation where a person’s future is not determined by the wealth of their parents, where the value of a human life is not measured by the size of a bank account, and where every citizen has a fair chance to live, learn, work and prosper. For, in the final analysis, the true division in society is not simply between those who have money and those who do not. It is between a society that accepts preventable deprivation as normal and one that has the courage to change it.
The challenge before Nigeria is not to abolish wealth, but to abolish the injustice that makes poverty a barrier to human dignity. Our ambition must be a country where no child is born into a life sentence of disadvantage, no citizen is denied opportunity because of poverty, and no Nigerian is considered less worthy because of what they lack. That is the Nigeria we must build, not a nation divided into the privileged and the forgotten, but a nation united by opportunity, justice and our shared humanity.
References
Commonwealth Fund. (2026) International Health Care System Profiles: Nigeria.
National Bureau of Statistics (2022). Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey Results 2022. Abuja: National Bureau of Statistics.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2024). Deconstructing Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria. UNCTAD Research Paper No. 112, UNCTAD/SER.RP/2024/1.
World Bank (2022). A Better Future for All Nigerians: Nigeria Poverty Assessment 2022. Washington, DC: World Bank.
• Prof. Bassey writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and is the immediate past Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, as well as a former Commissioner for Health, Akwa Ibom, State
