THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Poverty is one of the greatest social problems in the history of humanity. Poverty refers to lack of sufficient resources to afford a decent living. A vast majority of Nigerians live in poverty. This is noticeable in the rate of illiteracy, poor health and life expectancy in the country. This paper looked at poverty reduction in Nigeria and the role of the Christian church in combating the menace, especially, among the urban poor. It focused on poverty alleviation interventions in Okpoko by two major Christian denominations in the community, the Roman Catholic Mission and the Anglican Mission. Written works were consulted, personal observations and interviews were equally employed in the course of the research.It is discovered that the Nigerian government have initiated and implemented various poverty alleviation programmes aimed at lifting Nigeria out of poverty. Sadly, these programmes, to a large extent, have failed. Factors that led to the failure of these programmes include corruption, poor planning and implementation, poor funding and policy inconsistency. The church has played some vital roles in reaching out to the poor.Schools, health clinics, skill acquisition training are some of the interventions of the church in poverty eradication. The church does this in the belief that the gospel should speak the total man; that is man, in his spiritual, social and economic dimensions. No doubt, the issue of poverty outweighs the resources of the church. Therefore, the church should embark on advocacy, synergize with government and other agencies to reduce poverty in our land. Further, the church needs to step up its intervention, set up special fund for the purpose of giving the poor access to credit facility, give them financial education and closely work with the people to monitor what they do with the funds given to them