Stories by Sarah NEGEDU
Hundreds of Abuja residents took to the streets on Friday, calling on the government to tackle poverty, improve social services, and address rising living costs as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was marked worldwide.
The march, which was part of activities to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, began at Labour House, with participants carrying placards with inscriptions like, “Our pots are empty because the system is broken!”, “President Tinubu, we cannot eat promises!”, “We refuse to normalise poverty in a nation this rich!”; and “We are MOTiON – Moving from Pain to Purpose!”.
Other inscriptions drawing attention to the plight of citizens read “Three out of four rural dwellers now live below the poverty line!”, “Empty pots, empty promises! We can’t cook hope!”; and “When the cost of food rises faster than wages, hunger becomes a national emergency!”
The walk also marked the official launch of the Movement for the Transformation of Nigeria, MOTiON, in Abuja, a coalition committed to ending structural poverty and ensuring government accountability.
Speaking at the event, Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Dr Andrew Mamedu, said government programmes often fail to reach citizens due to lack of transparency, inadequate monitoring, and poor fiscal accountability at subnational levels.
Mamedu noted that illicit financial flows, which drain Nigeria of an average of $18 billion annually, worsen poverty, and he called for urgent reforms in fiscal management and budgeting processes.
He urged civil society participation in social audits, stronger social protection systems, and a National Poverty Summit to unify fragmented policies into a binding National Action Plan for food security and poverty eradication.
Mamedu also highlighted gaps in the electoral and anti-corruption systems, stressing that open tendering and proper funding of watchdog agencies would allow Nigerians to benefit more directly from public resources.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, addressing the march virtually, said citizens have no business being hungry in a country rich in human and natural resources. He described MOTiON as a coalition dedicated to ending institutional neglect and transforming governance to respect citizens’ rights and dignity.
Falana called for immediate steps including free, credible elections, expanded school feeding programmes, wider cash transfers, and the prosecution of corrupt officials. “MOTiON has come to stay, and we are going to hold the government accountable at every step of the way,” he said.
MOTiON convener Hawa Mustapha explained that the movement’s six demands include ending hunger, creating three million jobs within two years, sustaining and expanding school feeding, extending cash transfers to all Nigerians living in poverty, ensuring access to education and basic healthcare, and enforcing transparent governance.
She stressed that the movement begins in Abuja but speaks to all Nigerians, vowing: “We are not going to rest until this country that we call ours is truly ours in terms of the dignity of the people that live in this city and nation.”
While similar marches were held in Lagos, Yola, Yobe, and Nasarawa, Abuja remains the centre of MOTiON’s launch and advocacy, drawing local attention to the urgency of structural reforms and poverty eradication in the nation’s capital.
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