A non-governmental group, Media Development Initiative (MDI), has urged the Federal Government to develop a practical framework to reduce poverty this year.

The President of the body, Mr Simeon Nwakaudu, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, recently.

He said the unemployment rate in Nigeria, which he put at about 70 per cent, was responsible for the wide spread poverty in the country.

“Something needs to be done fast about this development. You see, some countries even with five per cent unemployment rate, have sleepless nights.” You will see them working fervently towards reducing it.

The country’s present national indices are not encouraging. The Federal Government must quickly rise to the occasion in the New Year to drastically reposition the standard of living of its people.

This will entail serious political will to fight corruption in high and low places of the economy,’’ he said.

On the promotion of small scale entrepreneurs, Nwakaudu said the country would not achieve much if electricity generation and distribution were not improved upon.

He explained that the group had empowered over 2,000 rural dwellers in the Middle Belt region of the country to become self-reliant.

“We assisted them with funds and business plans but most of them failed to follow our framework as according to them, irregular electricity supply worked against them.

The government must divide the country into business clusters and depend less on its ministries and agencies in order to reach the critical mass.

The government must also reduce its focus on international investors to ensure the encouragement of family businesses as this is the only way to impact on the citizenry. Japan, China and most countries in Asia depend on this model,’’ Nwakaudu said.