By Nnamdi Okosieme
The deepening poverty level in Nigeria on Tuesday engaged the attention of scholars, journalists, traditional rulers and members of the diplomatic community.
The setting was a one-day international conference organized by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Nigeria(DICAN).
The conference, themed, “Nigeria’s Poverty Alleviation Efforts: Adopting China Modules and Its Relevance in a New Era – The Place of Policy Makers, Development Partners, Stakeholders and Diplomatic Reporters”, aimed at exploring ways the gnawing poverty in the country, could be reduced to enable Nigerians live a more qualitive life, drawing from the example of China, which has successfully pulled over 800 million of it’s one billion plus population out of poverty.
Delivering the welcome address, Comrade Idehai Frederick, DICAN Chairman, noted that the theme of the conference, which seeks to eevaluat Nigeria’s poverty alleviation pathways through the lens of China’s poverty alleviation model could not be more urgent.
He said as developing nations navigate economic recalibrations, food security hurdles, and structural shifts, exploring proven developmental frameworks is not merely academic, it is an imperative for sustainable governance.
Comrade Frederick averred that in alignment with the China-Africa People-to-People Exchange Year and the strategic priorities of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), DICAN remained committed to bridging the gap between foreign policy formulation and public understanding.
He expressed gratitude to the Chinese Government for affording the Chairman of DICAN the privilege of leading African mainstream media executives on a study tour across China.
He stated that experiencing China’s rural revitalization projects firsthand provided invaluable insights into operational modernization.
He said to build on this foundation, he urged the Chinese Government to expand fellowship opportunities, media exchange programmes, and technical journalism training for DICAN members.
“We urge the Chinese Embassy to link the Chinese business community directly with DICAN which will create a transparent platform for highlighting Chinese corporate social responsibility (CSR), bilateral trade achievements, and market opportunities while supporting DICAN’s ongoing developmental activities”, Comrade Frederick said.
The DICAN Chairman said adaptingg China’s Modules to Nigeria
China’s historical feat of lifting over 800 million people out of extreme poverty provides a compelling blueprint.
Adaptation not replication
He noted that adaptation rather than direct replication is key to achieving meaningful impact within Nigeria’s unique socio-economic landscape. Additionally, he said, the core tenets of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s global philosophy offer valuable guidance for regional development. He listed the rubrics of Chinese President’s operating philosophy as:
- Shifting from blanket subsidies to household- and community-level data-driven support.
- Prioritizing win-win economic partnerships and infrastructure connectivity and,
- Aligning bilateral aid with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on green growth, digital economy integration, and industrialization.
The DICAN Chairman said China’s Zero-Tariff Policy for African exports serves as a vital economic engine.
He added that leveraging fully on the
policy would require the strengthening of local supply chains, improving standardization, and expanding non-oil exports from Nigeria to Chinese markets.
Historic achievements
Giving an insight into China’s strategy for pulling over 800 million of it’s citizens out of poverty, China’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Yu Dunhai, who was represented at the occasion by Sun Xuekun, Counselor, Economic and Commercial Office of the China Embassy in Nigeria, described it as historic and unprecedented.
Ambassador Dunhai said when the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, it had one of the highest poverty rates in the world; Per capita national income was only 27 U.S. dollars, less than two-thirds of the Asian average, and nearly 87 percent of the population lived in rural areas under extreme poverty.
He stated that since the launch of reform and opening-up in 1978, China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty, contributing over 70 percent of global poverty reduction.
He disclosed that at the end of 2012, nearly 100 million rural residents were still living below the poverty line but within only eight years, by the end of 2020, all of them had been lifted out of poverty.
“On average, more than 12 million people escaped poverty each year, equivalent to the population of a medium-sized country. During this period, China’s per capita GDP increased from about 6,300 U.S. dollars to more than 10,400 U.S. dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 8.1 percent. A total of 98.99 million rural poor residents, 832 impoverished counties, and 128,000 impoverished villages were removed from poverty.
“China eradicated absolute poverty and achieved the poverty reduction target of the United Nations 2030 Agenda ten years ahead of schedule. Third, the resilience is unprecedented.
After eliminating absolute poverty, China established a five-year transition period to consolidate achievements. It improved monitoring and assistance mechanisms and effectively prevented large-scale returns to poverty.
Poverty governance has gradually shifted from intensive campaigns to long-term institutional mechanisms, demonstrating that poverty can not only be overcome but also prevented from recurring”, the Chinese Ambassador said.
He noted that China has developed a systematic, practical, and efficient poverty reduction framework tailored to its national conditions. He said the first ingredient was strong leadership and accountability.
“Poverty alleviation was elevated to a national priority. A clear responsibility system was established, featuring central coordination, provincial oversight, and city- and county-level implementation. The government invested nearly 1.6 trillion yuan in special poverty alleviation funds, mobilized financial support, dispatched more than 3 million officials and village work team members, and built a nationwide assistance network that reached every poor household.
Second, targeted poverty alleviation.
China shifted from broad, generalized measures to precision-based interventions”, Ambassador Dunhai said.
He added that through detailed identification of poor households and villages, analysis of the causes of poverty, and the establishment of a national information management system, assistance was tailored to local realities.
He noted that key measures included developing local industries, relocation from inhospitable areas, ecological compensation programs, educational assistance, and strengthened social security. This, he said, transformed poverty alleviation from simple short-term assistance into sustainable, self-driven development.
Further, he opined that in building sustainable momentum through development,
China integrated poverty reduction with economic growth with
local industries such as specialty agriculture, rural tourism, and e-commerce promoted.
“Programmes such as “Ten Thousand Enterprises Helping Ten Thousand Villages” connected businesses with rural communities and expanded market access. At the same time, major investments in roads, drinking water, electricity, telecommunications, education, and healthcare improved living standards and addressed the root causes of poverty”, he stated.
The Chinese Ambassador said a key plank of his country’s poverty reduction strategy was long-term consolidation. He stated that following the eradication of absolute poverty, China linked poverty alleviation with rural revitalization. Monitoring and support mechanisms were then strengthened to prevent people from falling back into poverty.
“By 2024, rural residents in formerly impoverished counties had experienced significant growth in disposable income, while more than 30 million formerly poor people maintained stable employment, providing a solid foundation for long-term prosperity”, he noted.
Listing key experiences from China’s poverty reduction, Ambassador Dunhai said his country’s success offers valuable lessons for global poverty governance.
“First, a people-centered approach.
The Chinese government has consistently upheld the principle that a better life for the people is the ultimate goal of development.
Through policies summarized as the “Two Assurances and Three Guarantees” – ensuring adequate food and clothing, compulsory education, basic medical care, and safe housing – the fundamental needs of poor populations were met, ensuring that no one was left behind.
China’s experience shows that poverty reduction begins with putting people’s interests first. Second, making poverty reduction a core governance responsibility. China elevated poverty eradication from a social issue to a national mission.
Strong political commitment, long-term planning, diversified financing, and strict evaluation mechanisms created a comprehensive governance system that provided strong guarantees for poverty reduction.
Third, eliminating poverty through development. Poverty is fundamentally a development issue”, he said.
He noted that by prioritizing economic development, addressing regional disparities, and continuously improving people’s livelihoods, China created conditions that enabled sustained poverty reduction.
He said at the same time, China embraced globalization and expanded opening-up, generating broader opportunities for growth and development. He added that adapting policies to reality was intrinsic to success as poverty has different causes in different regions and at different stages of development.
He noted that China consistently pursued solutions based on local conditions, adjusting strategies as circumstances evolved. In the new era, he said, poverty alleviation shifted from broad “flood irrigation” approaches to precise “drip irrigation,” from fragmented resource allocation to coordinated support, and from simple assistance to capacity building and self-development.
Ambassador Dunhai in eradicating poverty, the mobilizing of all social forces was critical as poor populations are not merely recipients of assistance but active participants in poverty reduction.
“China combined material support with education, skills training, and incentive mechanisms to strengthen both capability and confidence.
Government agencies, businesses, social organizations, and communities worked together, creating a whole-of-society approach to poverty alleviation”, he said.
Highlighting the global significance of China’s Poverty Reduction
China’s poverty reduction, he said it’s achievements extend beyond his country’s borders and contribute to global development through accelerating global poverty reduction.
“By lifting over 800 million people out of poverty and achieving the UN poverty reduction target a decade ahead of schedule, China accounted for more than 70 percent of global poverty reduction and made an extraordinary contribution to humanity’s fight against poverty. Second, providing a valuable development example.
China’s experience in targeted poverty alleviation, strong accountability, and dynamic management demonstrates that developing countries can successfully overcome poverty through strategies suited to their own national circumstances.
Third, generating momentum for global development. China has actively promoted international development cooperation through initiatives such as the Global Development Initiative and the Belt and Road Initiative.
Through development projects, capacity-building programs, and international cooperation, China has contributed resources, experience, and opportunities to global poverty reduction efforts.
Although global poverty remains a serious challenge, China’s poverty reduction journey demonstrates that poverty is neither inevitable nor irreversible”, the Chinese Ambassador said.
He added that through strong leadership, people-centered development, targeted policies, sustained economic growth, and broad social participation, China has achieved a historic transformation that has improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
“China’s experience shows that with determination, appropriate policies, and collective effort, poverty can be overcome, development can be shared, and a more prosperous future can be built for all”, Ambassador Dunhai stated.
Delivering a paper titled, “The Political Economy and Governance Mechanism of China’s Targeted Poverty Reduction”, Prof Sheriff Ghali Ibrahim, Provost Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, and Head of Contemporary China-Africa Research, said targeted poverty alleviation plays into China’s poverty alleviation strategy, and is to contribute to the Party’s century goal of “comprehensively building a “moderately prosperous society” that is the first objective of Xi Jinping’s agenda of the Four Comprehensives.
“In his speeches, Xi Jinping emphasizes that without solving the poverty problem in rural areas, China cannot become a moderately prosperous society”, Prof Ibrahim said.
He listed some of the core strategies as:
- Sustained Economic Growth: Broad-based economic reforms kickstarted agricultural productivity and industrial expansion, raising baseline incomes.
- Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA): Moved away from broad regional aid to precise, household-level digital profiling to identify exact causes of deprivation.
- •Development-Oriented Relief: Focused on building self-development capacities through job training rather than permanent welfare dependency.
- Urban-Rural Balancing: Used state mechanisms to channel urban and industrial wealth to support rural agricultural zones.
Practical Implementation Mechanisms - Precision Household Profiling: Surveys mapped millions of impoverished households to customize distinct solutions, such as crop science, microloans, or e-commerce.
- Stationing Cadres in Villages: Millions of Party and government officials, alongside specialized work teams and village “first secretaries,” were deployed directly to poor rural areas to manage local execution.
- East-West Pairing Collaboration: Wealthy eastern provinces were paired with underdeveloped western regions to provide direct financial investments, industrial transfer, and job matching.
- Relocation and Resettlement: Communities living in extreme, ecologically fragile, or remote mountainous zones were systematically moved to areas with better infrastructure and market access.
Infrastructure and - Digital Integration: Mass construction connected isolated villages to national road, rail, electricity, and 4G/optical fiber networks.
- •Strict Exit Verification: Implemented rigorous, transparent multi-tiered inspections and accountability systems to measure and audit poverty removal at county and village levels.
In his own paper at the event, which held at the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Austin Maho, Media Scholar, Public Affairs Analyst, Lecturer International Institute of Journalism, Abuja, said the timing of the conference could not be more relevant for Nigeria particularly given it’s burgeoning population.
In the paper, titled, “The Critical Role of Diplomatic Correspondents and Media Evecutives in Contextualizing International Development Models, Dr. Maho stated:
“In 2025, Nigeria recorded an estimated 7.6 million births, for a population of 230 million whereas China recorded 7.9 in a population of 1.4 billion. We are growing faster than our infrastructure, our schools, and our jobs. Our demographic trajectory makes poverty reduction/eradication not just a social policy, but a national security emergency!”, Dr. Maho said.
While advocating for Nigeria to take the Chinese route to poverty reduction, he insisted that models cannot be imported wholesale but must be evaluated, communicated, and contextualized. This he said, is the essential work of journalists, diplomatic correspondents and media executives. He said journalists are the bridge between international experience and domestic policy, between data in Beijing and reality in Benue.
“We set the agenda for public discuss for government policy success or failures”, he stated.
Accountability Agents
Pinpointing the Nigerian media’s role in poverty reduction, Dr. Maho said it’s role must not be the that of cheerleaders but change agents.
“This is where diplomatic correspondents and media executives come in. Our role is not to be cheerleaders for Beijing or for Abuja. It is to be translators and accountability agents.
A. Evaluation: Ask the Hard Questions
When a Chinese delegation announces a ‘pilot agricultural park’ in Nigeria under GDI, our job is to go beyond the ribbon-cutting. What is the business model? Who owns the land? What happens after the Chinese experts leave? How does this compare to the 100,000 schools China renovated in its own villages?
We must evaluate both the foreign model and our own government’s capacity to implement it. “Targeted poverty alleviation” in Nigeria will fail without fixing NIMC, NBS data, and state-level planning”, he stated.
Continuing, he said the media in acting as change agents must effectively humanize and communicate the fine points of the policy.
“Xi’s credibility came from village visits and from making poverty a political liability. Nigerian media must do the same. The 7.6 million births statistic is abstract. The story of one mother in Jigawa who walks 10km for water is not. We must report poverty not as a number for UN reports, but as a daily lived experience. And we must report development cooperation not as diplomacy, but as delivery: did the solar mini-grid work? Did the zero-tariff policy for African goods actually get Nigerian tomatoes into Guangzhou?”, he asked.
Offering a pathway for the media, Dr. Maho said for it to fulfill the roles of critically evaluating, communication and contextualizing, media practitioners should institutionalize the following:
- Create a “Development Diplomacy” Beat: Assign reporters to track FOCAC, GDI, BRI projects in Nigeria. Measure delivery, not announcements.
- “Last Mile” Reporting Mandate: Quarterly field trips to 1 LGA per geopolitical zone. Report like Xi’s village visits: what changed on roads, power, clinics, schools?
- Data Desk Collaboration: Partner with NBS, BudgIT, NPC to turn “7.6M births” into stories about classrooms, PHCs, and jobs needed.
- B. FRAMING & LANGUAGE
Shift the Frame: From “poverty alleviation” as charity to “poverty eradication” as modernization and economic policy. Cover agriculture, rural SMEs, e-commerce as development stories. - Contextualize Foreign Models: Every story on China/Africa cooperation must include 2 questions: “Can this work in our federal system?” and “What is the exit plan for Nigerians?”
Building capacity
Dr. Charles Onunaiju, another scholar who spoke at the conference explored Nigeria’s interventions in poverty alleviation.
In his paper, titled, “A Brief Interrogation of Nigeria’s Poverty Reduction and China Experience”, he averred that poverty reduction or alleviation or even eradication has been a well-known mantra of successive Nigeria’s governments.
According to him, every government scales up the rhetoric about tackling poverty, yet the scourge persists with even more cruel vehemence. He opined that the underlying conception of poverty alleviation or reduction as a mere humanitarian gesture has hobbled and befuddled the trajectories of the strategy to lift the mass of people out of poverty and consequently enable their capacities and capabilities as aggregate wealth creators who would make enormous contributions to boost the commonwealth.
Dr. Onunaiju stated that because strategies of poverty reduction or alleviation in Nigeria has more or less been targeted at marginally sustaining the poor people in their status, enabling them to barely exist without shaking off the structural constraints or impediments to raising these capacities and capabilities, such efforts in the past as in the current situation has not really lifted people out of poverty but barely maintained them in subsistence, without the requisite added values to actuate their capabilities and unleash their potentials.
“Lack of individual capability is the defining parameter of poverty, so any poverty alleviation or reduction that did not enable capability could be described as just poverty maintenance. The Indian- born Harvard economist, Professor Amartya Sen said that ‘capability is individual’s capacity to achieve the kind of lives they have reasons to value.’ Basic capabilities therefore, consist of functions to stave off hunger and disease, satisfies the needs for nutrition, receive education and participate in community and social activities. The loss of these functions is the reason behind poverty as well as the manifestation of poverty”, Dr. Onunaiju said.
He stated that any meaningful strategy to poverty reduction or alleviation must aim to build the capacity of persons living in poverty so that they are transformed into active wealth creators, who are not only able to take control of their individual lives but make active contributions in growing the commonwealth.
Drawing parallels with the experience of China, he said the Asian country’s targeted poverty alleviation strategy from 2011 to 2020, which culminated with ending poverty in China adopted a catch-call known as the “two no-worries or two assurances and Three guarantees”- poverty reduction targets which by 2020, the poor populations should have been transformed that they would have “no worries” about food and clothing, and three guarantees that children from poor families should be guaranteed a nine-year compulsory education, basic health and basic living conditions.
He added that the specific nature of China’s poverty reduction strategy is that, it has evolved over the years in accordance with its development stages and corresponded in the changes in its demographics and the types of poor people. More importantly its multidimensional empowerment concept which is manifested in economic environment, job opportunities, equality, human capital and social welfare system, as well as continued policy attention to the poor and underdeveloped groups is embedded in the country’s poverty reduction policy.
“From the experience of China, with its world’s most successful policy strategy in poverty reduction or alleviation and now, eradication, it is well established that except structural constraint to poverty is incrementally shaken and removed, such simplistic social interventions as cash transfer are likely to go down as bold and social visionary schemes but failed for the deficit of critical structural compliments that could drive such social agenda on a sustainable basis.
“The wife of the former president, Mrs. Aisha Buhari once publicly agonized how a N500 billion federal government social intervention fund had barely touched the lives of expected targeted poor people. However, a triple of such fund will have only marginal or no effect at all, if the strategy of poverty reduction is not targeted at structural transformation of the local community landscape that would enable poor people to ride through the inherent constraints on their capacity enhancement and capability improvement”, Dr. Onunaiju stated.
He said rural communities in the Nigeria’s context can become vibrant and pivotal markets if such rural infrastructure like feeder roads, rural electrification, primary health care centres, rural water supplies are provided and considerably enhanced on a comprehensive scale. When once, the currently isolated and detached communities can engage in local trade to be made possible through vibrant local or rural infrastructure connectivity, communities can leverage their respective comparative advantages in production and skills to boost wider economies of scale.
“These are the imperative for transformation of rural economies, which are the critical structural foundation for sustainable poverty reduction and a key index for transforming helpless, powerless poor individuals not only to become net wealth creators but even more rational individuals whose electoral choices and judgments can contribute to widening the democratic space”, he stated.
Also speaking at the conference, the Emir of Pai in Kwali Area Council in FCT, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Pai III recounted his efforts as a traditional ruler in lifting members of community out of poverty.
He said he adopted the approach of using empowerment programmes and encouraged communal farming with produce from the farms shared among community members.
He said the key challenge he faced in empowering members of the community was inaccurate data for which he had to engage consultants.
He urged th media to commend the Chinese approach to poverty reduction to Nigeria’s policy makers in order to change the ugly narrative of poverty.
Earlier in a goodwill message, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dunoma Ahmed, who was represented by the Ministry’s Spokesperson, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, noted that policy makers, development partners and diplomatic reporters each play a distinct and complementary role in Nigeria’s poverty reduction efforts.
He said policy makers must design coherent frameworks that translate lessons into context-appropriate reforms, safeguard fiscal sustainability, and build the institutional capacity to implement and monitor results; Development partners bring technical expertise, financing and international experience; their support is most effective when aligned with Nigeria’s priorities and subject to rigorous oversight and mutual accountability while diplomatic correspondents and the wider media are critical in shaping public understanding, scrutinizing policy choices, and holding stakeholders accountable.
He said clear, accurate and balanced reporting fosters informed public dialogue and helps ensure that poverty-alleviation strategies are responsive to citizens’ needs.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is committed to supporting these efforts by deepening international cooperation, promoting knowledge exchange, and mobilizing partnerships that advance Nigeria’s development objectives. We will therefore continue to engage bilateral and multilateral partners to attract responsible investment, technology transfer and capacity-building programs that respect our development priorities”, he stated.
