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ABSTRACT

Background: Poverty has become like a plague to many developing countries including Nigeria. Poverty in Nigeria has reached an alarming height. In many countries, the poor constitutes an important group because in a country where a good proportion of the population is poor, there tends to be increase in violence and crime wave which discourage government’s developmental efforts. Every government therefore tries to create one form of program or another to take care of this group. Women are known to be disproportionately represented among the poor. This is because women are likely to be illiterates in some African countries including Nigeria. This is due to the patriarchal nature of some African countries whereby they believe that male children are superior to female children. They therefore, prefer to invest in their male children by sending them to school than in their female children. Also, women are likely to be socially and politically excluded. Households headed by females, widows and single mothers are more prone to suffer from abject poverty. This is because women are likely to be restricted to low income generating activities due to their low level of education and their dominance of informal sector. Between 1962 and 1968 Nigeria had four National Development plans. These plans were gender-blind and did not consider women. It was not until in the 1980’s before Nigerian government began to consider women in their development plans. This study is therefore an attempt to unravel the perception of selected women to some poverty reduction programs of the government. Objectives of the study are: to outline some of the objectives of these economic programs; to evaluate the perception of some selected women to some government economic programs aimed at ameliorating poverty in Nigeria since 1999, and, to determine their challenges, if any. The study also seeks to make recommendations on how to reposition these programs to be of greater benefit to the target group. Methods: The study explored both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data were obtained through key informant interviews and administration of questionnaires. The study area is Akure, the capital of Ondo state in Nigeria. Notable government programs from 1999 – 2015 were randomly selected. Ten (10) officials each from National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP), Ministry of Labour and Productivity, and Country Women Association of Nigeria (COWAN) were interviewed. The sample size was 30. Also, 120 structured questionnaires were administered to women in this proportion: 50 to market women, 20 each to staff members of NAPEP and Ministry of Labour and Productivity. Thirty (30) questionnaires were administered to female staff members of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). All were chosen randomly. Simple percentages, tables and figures were utilized to analyze the data. Results: The study found out that despite governments’ huge budgetary allocation to this poverty alleviation programs; they have succeeded in benefitting a very negligible number of the target group. Corrupt practices, politicization of these programs and non-inclusion of the target group in the formation and implementation of these programs are discovered to be some of the reasons for the failure of the programs.
Conclusion: The promise of better standard of living continues to elude most especially the vulnerable group in which women are disproportionately represented. There is need for the government to restrategize in their ways of delivering these promises. Recommendation: It recommends that women must necessarily be appointed as co–coordinators of these programs. The target group should be involved in the formation and implementation of these programs. Also technocrats and not politicians should be appointed to man these programs.

Keywords: Poverty Reduction Program, Economic Programs, Development Programs.