The Federal Government on Wednesday launched the National Poverty Intelligence Lab, a data-driven platform designed to strengthen the targeting, monitoring, and evaluation of poverty-reduction programmes, as it seeks to address the plight of an estimated 140 million Nigerians living below the poverty line.
The initiative, unveiled by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, is expected to serve as the central intelligence and evidence-gathering hub for the government’s anti-poverty interventions.
Speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop on the operationalisation of the lab in Abuja, Doro said the country could no longer rely on assumptions and fragmented interventions in tackling poverty.
According to him, Nigeria’s poverty challenge requires a new approach anchored on data, evidence and accountability.
“Recent estimates indicate that approximately 140 million Nigerians live below the poverty line. The scale and depth of the challenge is staggering, but it is surmountable,” the minister said.
“What this moment demands is not more of the same. It demands systems, intelligence, evidence-driven leadership and, above all, coordinated and accountable action.”
The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction in partnership with Innovations for Poverty Action.
Doro described the National Poverty Intelligence Lab as the “intelligence backbone” of Nigeria’s poverty reduction architecture, saying it would provide the analytical support needed for policy formulation, programme implementation, resource allocation and performance assessment.
“For many years, our interventions have been driven by assumptions rather than evidence, sometimes by politics rather than data, and by silos rather than systems,” he said.
“The NPIL changes that. It gives us the analytical infrastructure to ask the right questions, find credible answers and hold ourselves accountable for results.”
The minister explained that the lab would support the implementation of the One Humanitarian One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS), a framework developed by the ministry to harmonise humanitarian assistance, social protection programmes and poverty reduction initiatives under a unified structure.
According to him, the objective is to ensure that government interventions are coordinated and capable of permanently lifting vulnerable households out of poverty.
“Every household we reach through OHOPRS is a household we intend to graduate from vulnerability—not just today but permanently. That is the ambition. And the NPIL is the engine that will tell us whether we are getting there,” he added.
Doro said the establishment of the lab represented more than a technological innovation, describing it as a governance and accountability reform that would improve transparency and effectiveness in poverty reduction efforts.
He also reaffirmed the commitment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to implementing sustainable measures aimed at improving the living conditions of Nigerians.
Earlier, the Country Representative of Innovations for Poverty Action, Mrs. Fumi Ayeni, said the collaboration with the ministry would help policymakers better understand the needs of poor and vulnerable populations while reducing duplication in intervention programmes.
“Getting people out of poverty starts with everybody. This collaboration will help policymakers build a legacy that can significantly reduce poverty in Nigeria,” she said.
Ayeni noted that the workshop would provide stakeholders with an opportunity to develop strategies for designing and implementing more impactful poverty reduction initiatives.
Also speaking, the Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister on Information Systems and Data Analysis, Dr. Abimbola Fasanu, stressed the importance of reliable data in shaping public policy.
“Data is not just a bureaucratic requirement but a strategic national asset. Globally, government policies and programmes are informed by data,” she said.
She explained that the initiative would enable government agencies and development partners to make informed decisions and measure the impact of interventions more effectively.