Poverty In Nigeria: The Role Of The Church

Abstract

The research paper aimed to identify the impact of poverty in Nigeria, the role of the Church in establishing microcredit schemes and a channel of funding microcredit schemes in their nearest communities. Poverty alleviation requires huge attention not only from the government but also from the church as an institution. Nigeria as a nation could be safely described as a nation enmeshed in poverty trap in spite of the resources in the land. Unfortunately the government has not adjusted to the acceptable ways of fighting poverty. What we see in each government that comes up in Nigeria is selfless approach to fighting poverty and often times the way of embezzling money. Priests of the Catholic Church have received training on the role of the church in development. Most of them however are yet to translate that into involving the church in the development process. Formal credit and savings institutions for the poor have also been around for decades, providing customers who were traditionally neglected by commercial banks a way to obtain financial services through cooperatives and development finance institutions. The microcredit scheme has a record of success. It has demonstrated that it helps poor households meet basic needs and protects them against risks, improve their economic welfare and enterprise. It not only supports the economic condition of the poor people but also has positive impacts on their social life. The role of church needs to change from direct involvement with communities to building the capacity of churches to carry out wholistic development programs. It can  embark on community mobilization programs aimed at enabling people identify, analyze, plan and take action to solve their problems so that people can live fulfilled lives as intended by God.