FG Using AI to Identify Poor Nigerians – Minister
The federal government is deploying artificial intelligence (AI), satellite imagery, and telecom data to more accurately identify and support impoverished Nigerians, especially in underserved urban slums, according to Nentawe Yilwatda, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction.
Speaking on Arise TV’s Prime Time, Yilwatda explained that these advanced technologies have significantly expanded the National Social Register, which now includes nearly 20 million Nigerians, up from 13 million.
Originally designed to focus on rural poverty, the register has been broadened on the directive of President Bola Tinubu to include poor populations in urban areas.
“We used satellite images to map out urban slums and telecommunications data to detect mobile phone users in those areas,” Yilwatda said.
“Then AI was used to validate and generate a list of urban poor based on various criteria, such as access to banking services.”
This enhanced data-driven approach now enables the government to more effectively deploy poverty alleviation initiatives across both rural and urban areas.
According to Yilwatda, roughly 15 million households—about 75 million people—are being targeted under current anti-poverty programmes.
With Nigeria having around 43 million households, this represents a substantial national reach.
Yilwatda also addressed the issue of hunger, stating that around 42% of Nigerians—roughly 80 million people—are food poor.
To respond, the government has launched conditional cash transfers to 15 million households, with each receiving ₦75,000.
While he admitted this may have limited impact in cities, he said it offers meaningful relief in rural communities.
Studies conducted in partnership with the World Bank and civil society organisations found that 18% of beneficiaries used the funds to start small businesses, 82% improved their food security, and 52% paid for school fees.
“It may seem small, but it has made a measurable difference,” Yilwatda noted.
Looking ahead, the minister outlined a shift from short-term humanitarian relief to long-term structural poverty reduction.
This includes ₦1.5 trillion in agricultural loans provided through the government’s aggregate bank to support food production and scholarship programmes aimed at keeping students in school amid economic pressures.
“The goal is to move from just managing poverty to actually eliminating it,” Yilwatda emphasized. “We’re no longer relying solely on food handouts and emergency aid.
We’re building a sustainable system to lift Nigerians out of poverty for good.”
FG Using AI to Identify Poor Nigerians – Minister