Mobile Phone and Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria

Abstract

Poverty is the inability to carter for oneself economically, educationally, socially and even physically. A poor person lacks the basic needs of life such as good and adequate food, shelter, education and health among others. This paper discusses poverty taking into consideration the Nigeria situation and efforts by the government to eradicate it in our society with little or no success. The paper observes that the invention of mobile phone and its subsequent ownership by large majority of Nigeria can be an instrument to poverty alleviation in Nigeria as it does in other parts of the world. The mobile phone can provide sustainable poverty alleviation through its use in generating growth domestic product (GDP), job creation, increase in productivity, increase in revenue from taxation, aiding disaster relief, social capital and social cohesion, and in health and education among others. Recommendations offered to ensure proper utilization of mobile phone include, improvement in power supply, provisions of adequate finds for various phone projects, lowering the tariffs on mobile phones and improving general telecommunication facilities so that it can spread to all parts of the country.