A country’s rating to a large extent, depends on objective appraisal and assessment of the citizens’ standard of living. Thus, it is obvious, that no country can be classified to be rich and wealthy when her citizens are living in penury.

Indeed, Nigeria cannot continue to pride herself as the giant of Africa when over 150 million citizens lack basic necessities of life: shelter, food, potable water, good health and education, transport and security of lives and properties.

In other words, for a country to be reckoned with within the comity of nations (states), such country should, ab-initio, provide decent housing, qualitative education, decent food, potable water, good healthcare, efficient transport, regular light (electricity) and round-the-clock security for its citizens, whether high or low.

And the question is: does Nigeria belong to this category of nations with such facilities in place? Obviously, the answer is simply negative.

Statistics from the office of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reveal a pathetic and horrible scenario which should disturb every well-meaning Nigerian, home and in diaspora.

According to the figures, over 65 million Nigerians live below one dollar per day. Eight million Nigerian children have no access to education and over half of the country’s population dwell in abject poverty.

These heart-rending revelations as grim and astonishing as they sound, the reality is that most Nigerians are suffering in the midst of plenty.

For a country that has so much natural resources yet its citizens are poor, calls for so much concern by the leadership.

In major cities like Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, among others, many families and individuals depend on less than  two dollars (about N280) daily for survival.

The rising incidence of destitution, prostitution, robbery, kidnapping and other social vices in our cities is evidence of the deplorable conditions of living in the country.

Nigeria’s image cannot be said to be better abroad when our people are distressed. How do we re-brand Nigeria when our stomach is empty? Questions, many questions but no answers.

Incidentally, what fuels the rate of poverty is corruption which permeates virtually every segment of our national life. The police, Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Customs, Immigrations, NNPC, bankers, politicians and infact our political leaders are corrupt.

Nigerians are inundated with stories of top public functionaries who covert, with impunity public funds into their private purse.

The probe of banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reveals how rotten the nation’s banking sector is. What about the power and energy sectors probe by the National Assembly?

Few and privileged Nigerians live in ostentation in the midst of the majority who contend with hunger, strife and pervasive penury. The privileged few who do not give a damn do so with glee, thereby compounding the problems of the already traumatised poor.

The tiny wealthy minority controls the nation’s stupendous wealth. The irony and tragedy are that the leadership does not have the political will to address the abnormality of our collective predicament.

The systematic poverty has grown to a dangerous level that is almost exterminating the middle class. It is either you belong to the few on top, or the majority below. No mid way again.

Nigerian leaders need to revisit the philosophy of the MDGs initiated in 2000 by the United Nations (UN) to eliminate poverty by 2015.

It is indeed ironic and shameful that less than five years to the target date, most Nigerians are still living in systematic poverty and are pauperised despite laudable programmes like the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP).

The country cannot afford to continue to drum up campaign for “Re-branding Nigeria” while its people suffer and die in penury. We need to act now or never.