ActionAid, others express worry over strangulating poverty in Nigeria, other W’African countries 

ActionAid Nigeria, AAN, and other Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, Monday expressed concern over the strangulating poverty in Nigeria and other West African countries. In an address of welcome by the Country Director, AAN, Andrew Mamedu, at the opening ceremony of a two-day Regional People Power Forum, RPPF, in Abuja with the theme ‘Exploring Challenges and Prospects of Organising For Social Transformation In The Midst Of Rising Misery And Intensifying Strife’ said there is escalated political unrest and insecurity across the subregion. ActionAid through a strategic agreement and support from Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) is supporting engagements that promote youth activism and social movements in solidarity with civil society organizations, Community based organisations, and other allies. The Regional People Power Forum (RPPF) is envisioned as a dynamic space for interaction, mutual learning, and collaboration among activists, social movements, and popular organizations across the subregion. It seeks to amplify shared experiences, highlight moments of intense social mobilization, and articulate common issues into a regional agenda, fostering solidarity and capacity for collective action.
In attendance are activists, movement members, human rights defenders, unionists, civil society groups from West African countries to build a united front. Mamedu said: “Last year when this event was held, the socio political and economic landscape of Africa, especially West Africa was different from what we have today. “Since the last forum, Nigeria has had a new government, subsidy on petroleum products and electricity-two things the poor benefits from- have been removed, further worsening the poverty level in the country. Moreover, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) about 133 million Nigerians are living in multidimensional poverty. And just a few days ago, we heard from the NBS that 65 percent of Nigerian households cannot eat healthy due to increased food prices and lack of money. Since the last forum, there have been military coups in West Africa with General Abdourahamane Tchiani, installing himself as the new leader in Niger and severing relations with ECOWAS.  There have also been a failed coup attempts in Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone allegedly sponsored by former president Ernest Koroma who is now exiled somewhere in Nigeria.  
“Political unrest and insecurity have also been at their highest. Boko Haram and the Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) continue to have a field day killing and maiming. In Nigeria, a new terror group has emerged, the Lakurawa, a testimony to the poor intelligence gathering of our security agencies. Across the continent and indeed the world, the allure of liberal democracy seems to be wanning.” He also cautioned that military rule is not the best for any part of the West African subregion, “Young people who never experience the wave of military dictatorship in Africa are only calling for military intervention. “Africa is facing multiple, intersecting crises that disproportionately impact people who have the least power and the greatest existing vulnerabilities.To compound the problem is the increasingly shrinking civil space by repressive governments across the region. You may have heard that in Nigeria now, to exercise your fundamental right of dissent could be tagged as treason. You must also have heard about the 76 underaged children who were arrested for protesting and charged to court for treason before they were granted pardon by the government.”
However, the AAN boss said, “The question to ask is, how did we come to this pass and what can we do about it? In ActionAid, we have an increased resolve on how to contribute to solving this. As you may know, ActionAid is a global federation working for a world free from poverty and injustice. All we want is a just, fair and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression. So, we work to achieve social justice and gender equality, and to eradicate poverty.
“We found out that counter-balancing and interconnected people’s movements will be key to resist repressive governments and draconian policies which continue to put more people in poverty. So, in our new Country Strategy Paper (CSP), we have prioritise working with social movements. Our CSP titled: Citizens Action to End Poverty and Injustice is founded on four critical but interlinked action of OAST – ORGANISE, ACT, SHIFT, THRIVE, as you can see, it is also fitting for the theme of this forum. At the federation level, our Strategic Implementation Framework (SIF 3) has also prioritise working with small bands of social movements all over the world.But there are challenges to social transformation and this we must surmount through organising in the midst of poverty, strive and misery. ActionAid Nigeria is currently the hub for social movement collaboration and support in west Africa, that is why we have invited you to this forum to achieve the following objectives among others: Develop a shared awareness of the nature and character of the crises and popular resistance in West Africa. Facilitate experience sharing and peer learning among activists, movements, and organizations in the region; Strengthen movement-to-movement relationships and build active Pan-African solidarity; Identify common issues to develop a unified regional agenda for social transformation; and Promote joint actions to address socio-political challenges across West Africa.”