By Pascal Ibe
In June, the former Anambra State Governor and Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, claimed Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world, with the hungriest and most insecure people on earth.
In a post on his X handle (formerly known as Twitter), Peter Obi described it as disheartening how those in authority dismiss the country’s challenges by saying “we are not the only ones struggling with poverty and hunger.”
Obi said the problems facing Nigeria are well-known to all Nigerians.
“We are the poverty capital of the world, among the most insecure people on earth, among the hungriest, have poor education quality and the highest number of out-of-school children, high infant mortality, “he claimed.
Those claims were also published by many news organizations in Nigeria in June, 2024.
The post by Mr Peter Obi on his X account in June, generated over 400k view with over 5k reposts.
Verification
FactWatch spotted four claims in the post by Mr Peter Obi in June.
The claims are:
• Nigeria, the poverty capital of the world
• The most insecure people on earth
• Among Hungriest Countries
• The highest number of out-of-school children in world
1 Nigeria, The Poverty Capital Of The World
Global Finance in it’s publication on May 6th, 2024, ranked South Sudan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique as top five poorest nations.
Nigeria was ranked 46th .
Table 👇
Rank Country/Territory GDP-PPP per capita ($)
1 🇸🇸South Sudan 455
2 🇧🇮Burundi 916
3 🇨🇫Central African Republic 1,123
4 🇨🇩Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,552
5 🇲🇿Mozambique 1,649
6 🇳🇪Niger 1,675
7 🇲🇼Malawi 1,712
8 🇱🇷Liberia 1,882
9 🇲🇬Madagascar 1,979
10 🇾🇪Yemen 1,996
11 🇸🇴Somalia 2,062
12 🇸🇱Sierra Leone 2,189
13 🇹🇩Chad 2,620
14 🇸🇧Solomon Islands 2,713
15 🇲🇱Mali 2,714
16 🇻🇺Burkina Faso 2,781
17 🇹🇬Togo 2,911
18 🇻🇺Vanuatu 2,939
19 🇬🇲Zimbabwe 2,975
20 🇬🇲The Gambia 2,993
21 🇭🇹Haiti 3,108
22 🇱🇸Lesotho 3,227
23 🇬🇼Guinea-Bissau 3,239
24 🇺🇬Uganda 3,345
25 🇬🇳Guinea 3,366
26 🇷🇼Rwanda 3,367
27 🇸🇩Sudan 3,443
28 🇰🇲Comoros 3,532
29 🇵🇬Papua New Guinea 3,534
30 🇰🇮Kiribati 3,614
31 🇹🇿Tanzania 3,746
32 🇹🇱Timor-Leste 3,767
33 🇪🇹Ethiopia 4,020
34 🇸🇹São Tomé and Príncipe 4,238
35 🇿🇲Zambia 4,361
36 🇧🇯Benin 4,558
37 🇸🇳Senegal 4,661
38 🇫🇲Micronesia 4,691
39 🇨🇬Republic of Congo 4,740
40 🇨🇲Cameroon 4,842
41 🇳🇵Nepal 5,032
42 🇲🇲Myanmar 5,203
43 🇹🇯Tajikistan 5,832
44 🇹🇻Tuvalu 6,056
45 🇲🇭Marshall Islands 6,313
46 🇳🇬Nigeria 6,340
47 🇼🇸Samoa 6,721
48 🇰🇬Kyrgyz Republic 6,790
49 🇨🇮Côte d’Ivoire 6,860
50 🇵🇰Pakistan 6,955
In 2022, an update by World Poverty Clock, WPC, revealed that India has surpassed Nigeria as the nation with the highest number of extremely poor people.
The World Poverty Clock is an online tool that monitors the progress against poverty globally and regionally and provides real-time poverty data across countries.
According to its data, extremely poor people are those living on N800 per day (less than $2 per day).
In 2018, Nigeria held the position with about 87 million people in extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million.
The first claim by Obi is FALSE.
The Most Insecure People On Earth
Verifying the second claim by Mr Peter Obi, a data published by Best Diplomats in July, 2024, indicated that Nigeria is not among the listed ten most insecure and dangerous countries in the world.
Safety and security stand as two of the most important concerns for individuals all around the world. People like to travel to places that are safe and secure.
These countries are considered dangerous because of various reasons like terrorism, crimes, conflicts, and others.
List👇
1 Afghanistan
2 Yemen
3 Syria
4 South Sudan
5 DR Congo
6 Russia
7 Ukraine
8 Somalia
9 Sudan
10 Iraq
Check similar report on this Here and Here
Verdict
The claim by Obi that Nigeria is the most insecure country is FALSE, after findings.
Among Hungriest Countries
On Obi’s third claim that Nigeria is among hungriest countries, according to the Global Hunger Index 2023, which was adopted by the International Food Policy Research Institute, and was published by Statista on July 4, 2024, the Central African Republic was the most affected by hunger and malnutrition, with an index of 42.3. Madagascar followed with an index of 41. The World Hunger Index combines three indicators: undernourishment, child underweight, and child mortality.
Madagascar, Yemen, DR Congo, Lesotho, Niger abd Chad were behind Central African Republic.
On the stats, Nigeria ranked 16th with 28.3%.
Also, Nigeria was not listed in top ten in a data published by Concern World in 2023.
Verdict
FactWatch couldn’t find a credible and up to date 2024 statistics that supports this claim.
Therefore this claim that Nigeria is among hungriest countries is UNPROVEN.
Highest Number Of Out-Of-School Children
The fourth claim by Peter Obi that Nigeria currently has highest number of out-of-school children in world, a report by UNICEF in May 2024, confirmed that it’s TRUE.
Lamenting over the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, UNICEF said it is now 18.3 million.
According to report by Vanguard, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that this alarming figure positions Nigeria as the country with the highest number of out-of-school children globally.
See similar reports which confirmed this claim Here and Here.
Verdict
The fourth claim is Correct.
Conclusion
Various data, statistics abd credible reports show that Mr Peter Obi’s first and second claims are FALSE, the third is UNPROVEN and fourth claim CORRECT.
