By Biodun Busari

Bayelsa, Sokoto, Gombe and Kebbi states have the highest incidence of child multidimensional poverty index in Nigeria, Vanguard has learnt.

While the child MPI is above 50% in all thirty-six states, the incidence in the aforementioned states has more than 95%.

This was revealed in the data on child MPI entitled ‘Nigeria Launches its Most Extensive National Measure of Multidimensional Poverty’ published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Sunday.

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Child poverty depicts when a child is raised with limited access to or, in some cases, no access to, the essential resources they need to survive and live well.

The NBS further stated that tracking by geo-political zones, the North-East and North-West have a higher number of poor children than the South-East and South-West.

The report also stated that the majority of Nigerian children experiencing poverty are found in rural areas.

“Child poverty is prevalent in rural areas, with almost 90% of rural children experiencing poverty.

“Across the geo-political zones, the child MPI shows higher poverty in the North-East and North-West (where 90% of children are poor) and lower poverty in the South-East and South-West (74% and 65.1% respectively).

“The incidence of Child MPI is above 50% in all States and greater than 95% in Bayelsa, Sokoto, Gombe and Kebbi,” NBS said.

It added, “Four million Nigerians – 2.1% of the population – live with a child aged 15–17 who is the first generation in that household to have completed primary school.”