Inuwa Yahaya’s Poverty Paradox: Rising Hardship Raises Questions Over Government’s Economic Policies
By Umar U. Duguri
Despite years of promises of economic transformation, Gombe State continues to face widespread poverty, unemployment and deprivation, raising questions about the effectiveness of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s policies and the extent to which public spending has improved the living conditions of ordinary citizens.
Gombe State’s development story presents a troubling contradiction: substantial public expenditure, ambitious economic plans and repeated government assurances of transformation, yet millions of residents continue to struggle with poverty, inadequate social services and limited economic opportunities.
Since assuming office in 2019, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya has pledged to reposition the state through fiscal discipline, infrastructure development, agricultural transformation and economic diversification.
His administration has introduced development programmes, social intervention schemes and budgetary initiatives intended to improve living standards.
However, the persistence of widespread deprivation raises a fundamental question: Are the government’s economic policies delivering meaningful prosperity, or has development remained largely disconnected from the everyday realities of the people?
The question is particularly important given Gombe’s economic potential, its agricultural resources and the substantial public revenues available to the state.
Poverty figures expose the scale of the challenge
The 2022 Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index, based on the 2021/2022 survey, placed Gombe among Nigeria’s poorest states, with approximately 86.2 per cent of its population classified as multidimensionally poor.
The figure represented about 3.02 million people experiencing overlapping deprivations in areas such as education, healthcare, living standards and access to essential services.
Although the survey provides a baseline rather than a current measurement of poverty under the administration, it underscores the severity of the challenge confronting the state.
For a government that has repeatedly presented economic transformation as a central objective, the scale of deprivation demands a serious assessment of policy effectiveness.
The issue is not whether the administration has undertaken projects. It is whether those projects have translated into sustainable improvements in household incomes, employment, access to essential services and economic security.
Economic policies without sufficient evidence of broad-based prosperity
Gombe’s poverty challenge requires more than isolated interventions or occasional financial assistance.
The state needs an integrated economic strategy capable of expanding productive employment, increasing household incomes, strengthening small businesses and improving agricultural productivity.
The administration’s DEVAGOM 2021–2030 development plan provides a framework for long-term transformation. However, the existence of a development plan does not, by itself, establish that its objectives are being achieved.
The government must demonstrate how its policies have translated into measurable improvements in the lives of ordinary residents.
A development strategy that produces infrastructure without sufficient employment opportunities, or economic growth without corresponding improvements in household welfare, risks leaving the majority behind.
Agriculture: Potential without sufficient economic security
Agriculture remains a major source of livelihood for Gombe’s rural population. The state possesses considerable potential in grain production, livestock, groundnuts and other agricultural commodities.
Yet farmers continue to face structural challenges, including rising input costs, limited access to affordable financing, inadequate irrigation, storage constraints and poor market access.
Government agricultural interventions should therefore be evaluated not merely by the quantity of inputs distributed, but by their measurable impact on productivity and household incomes.
How many farmers have experienced sustained increases in earnings? How much investment has gone into irrigation, storage and agro-processing? What proportion of agricultural produce is lost because of inadequate facilities?
Without answers to these questions, agricultural spending risks providing temporary relief without fundamentally transforming rural livelihoods.
The administration must move towards an integrated agricultural economy that connects production with processing, storage, transportation and access to markets.
Unemployment and the burden on young people
Unemployment and underemployment remain critical obstacles to economic prosperity.
A state cannot sustainably reduce poverty while large numbers of young people remain economically inactive, trapped in low-paying informal work or unable to translate their education into employment.
The 2021/2022 multidimensional poverty data indicated that 11.5 per cent of Gombe residents were poor and lived in households with an unemployed adult, while 21.8 per cent were poor and lived with an underemployed adult.
These figures highlight the relationship between inadequate employment opportunities and household deprivation.
Government empowerment programmes may provide temporary assistance, but they cannot replace a functioning economy capable of creating sustainable jobs.
The administration must demonstrate how its policies have stimulated private investment, expanded small businesses, strengthened vocational training and generated employment that continues beyond the lifespan of individual programmes.
The ultimate measure of success should be the number of residents who secure sustainable livelihoods, not the number of empowerment ceremonies conducted.
Education: A cycle of deprivation threatening the future
Education remains one of the most effective instruments for breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
Yet the 2022 Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index indicated that approximately 48 per cent of school-age children in Gombe were not attending school during the survey period.
The figure represents a serious development challenge, with implications for literacy, employment, productivity and the state’s long-term economic competitiveness.
Although school attendance is influenced by household poverty, cultural factors and infrastructure, government policy remains central to expanding access to affordable, quality education.
The administration must demonstrate whether its education expenditure is reducing school dropout rates, improving learning outcomes and expanding access to vocational and technical education.
Without substantial progress in education, poverty risks reproducing itself across generations.
Public spending: Where is the measurable impact?
The size of a state budget is not, by itself, evidence of economic progress.
What matters is how public resources are allocated, how efficiently they are utilised and whether the resulting investments improve citizens’ welfare.
In 2025, Gombe’s approved budget was approximately ₦369.9 billion, following an increase from the initial proposal of ₦320.11 billion.
The administration presented the budget as a vehicle for economic transformation and infrastructural development.
However, the critical question remains whether public expenditure is sufficiently aligned with the needs of poor households.
How much has been invested in productive sectors capable of generating sustainable employment? What proportion of capital projects has been completed? How many communities have gained improved access to healthcare, education, clean water and economic infrastructure?
A road connecting farmers to markets, a functional healthcare facility or a properly equipped school can produce lasting social and economic benefits.
But public spending must be assessed against actual outcomes rather than budgetary announcements.
The administration owes residents transparent evidence of how its expenditure has improved living conditions and reduced economic vulnerability.
Social intervention programmes: Relief or lasting transformation?
The Gombe State Government has reported substantial investment in poverty alleviation through the GO-CARES programme.
In August 2025, the administration announced that approximately ₦40 billion had been invested under the programme, claiming that 648,414 individuals had been lifted out of poverty.
The reported interventions included support for petty traders, agricultural activities, schools, healthcare and water projects.
Such interventions can provide important relief to vulnerable households.
However, the claim of lifting hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty requires independent verification and a clear explanation of the methodology used.
Did beneficiaries experience sustained increases in income? Were they still above the poverty threshold after the assistance ended? How were beneficiaries selected, and what mechanisms ensured transparency?
A one-time grant or temporary intervention may improve a household’s immediate circumstances without providing lasting economic security.
The government should publish comprehensive programme evaluations demonstrating the sustainability of its poverty-reduction claims.
Revenue mobilisation and the economic burden on citizens
Gombe’s internally generated revenue reportedly increased from approximately ₦20.7 billion in 2024 to about ₦44 billion in 2025.
The increase indicates improved revenue mobilisation, but revenue growth must also be examined in the context of household welfare and business activity.
A sustainable revenue system should broaden the economic base, encourage business growth and improve tax compliance without imposing excessive burdens on struggling households.
The administration must demonstrate how its revenue policies balance fiscal sustainability with economic inclusion.
A state cannot sustainably reduce poverty if its residents lack the income-generating opportunities necessary to support economic activity.
The long-term objective should be to grow revenue through expanding businesses, increasing employment and improving household incomes.
Healthcare and the hidden cost of poverty
Healthcare costs can push vulnerable households deeper into poverty.
Families facing serious illness or expensive medical treatment may lose savings, sell productive assets or abandon other essential needs.
The government’s health policies must therefore be evaluated against their impact on affordability, access and financial protection.
Key questions include whether primary healthcare facilities are adequately equipped, essential medicines are consistently available and vulnerable households have access to affordable health insurance.
Strengthening healthcare is not merely a social responsibility; it is an economic necessity.
A population burdened by preventable illness and unaffordable treatment cannot achieve its full productive potential.
Rural development and the distribution of public investment
The economic divide between urban and rural communities remains an important consideration in Gombe’s development.
Rural residents require reliable access to roads, water, electricity, healthcare, education and markets.
Where these services are inadequate, the cost of doing business rises, agricultural productivity suffers and household incomes remain depressed.
The administration must provide transparent information on the distribution of public investments across local government areas.
Citizens deserve to know which communities have benefited from completed projects, how much was spent and whether those investments have produced measurable improvements.
Development must be inclusive, with rural communities receiving the infrastructure and services necessary to participate in the state’s economic transformation.
The accountability questions
The administration of Governor Inuwa Yahaya must provide credible answers to several fundamental questions:
1. What is Gombe State’s current poverty rate, based on comparable and independently verified data?
2. How many residents have sustainably escaped poverty since 2019?
3. How many jobs have been created through government-supported programmes, and how many remain active?
4. What is the independently verified impact of GO-CARES on household incomes?
5. What proportion of capital expenditure has been completed and independently evaluated?
6. How many children have returned to school through government interventions?
7. What measures have reduced the cost of healthcare for poor households?
8. How much of the state’s economic growth has translated into higher household incomes?
9. How are poverty programmes monitored to prevent exclusion, political interference and ineffective implementation?
These are legitimate questions of public accountability, not partisan allegations.
Conclusion: Development must be measured by the people’s welfare
Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s administration has an opportunity to demonstrate that its economic policies can deliver meaningful and sustainable improvements in the lives of Gombe residents.
But the success of any government must ultimately be judged by the conditions of the people it governs.
The number of projects announced, the size of budgets presented and the amount reportedly invested in intervention programmes cannot substitute for evidence that households are becoming more prosperous.
The available poverty statistics underscore the urgency of examining policy effectiveness, public spending, employment creation and the sustainability of social interventions.
For ordinary residents, development is not an abstract political slogan. It is the ability to afford food, educate their children, access healthcare, secure employment and live with dignity.
The ultimate test of Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s economic policies is not how much the government claims to have spent, but how many citizens have been sustainably lifted out of poverty.
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