Poverty.

It is not the most dreadful menace in the world, but certainly one of the most crucial.

In Nigeria, the average citizen needs at least N137, 430 for consumption annually to be considered as non-poor. This is roughly an expense of N376.5 daily according to a new study by National Bureau Statistics.

Unfortunately, 40.1% of Nigerians still live in extreme poverty. As of 2019, the country has a deficit of over 82.9 million Nigerians who suffered from this menace which is lower than 62.6% poverty rate reported by NBS in 2010.  While thousands of Nigerians have improved educational, health, feeding, and employment prospects, the overall economic inequality in the country remains stubbornly entrenched.

It is projected that by 2020, Nigeria will have at least 120 million of her citizens living in poverty. Hence, the call for action is now.

Inequality drivers

At the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Femi Oloyede* (not real name) is an accomplished first-year student with big dreams. At a time when he was just 2 years old, Femi had no hopes of seeing the four walls of a University – He had just lost both parents and there was zero financial support to cater to his basic needs and educational enrolment. After a round of interventions by Non-profit organization, Metamorphoo, Femi today will earn a degree and watch his dreams come to fruition.

Education and poverty are strongly intertwined. United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reported that less than 50% of children in the North West and North East attend school. In 2018, Nigeria was reported to have over 13 million children out of school, 72% of which come from the poorest homes. This shows the extent of the nation’s educational system deficiency.

Aid to Nigeria’s poverty alleviation schemes has occasional success stories, but they are intermingled amongst tales of hopelessness and systematic failure. The stark reality is poverty has many proportions beyond a lack of money. Monetary features such as wealth and income serve as an indicator for poverty, but human welfare in terms of basic needs and survival are often overlooked. Millions of Nigerians lack access to food, shelter, medical services, sanitation, electricity, and other economic goods.

There is a need for a full understanding of the various ways people experience poverty, ranging from education, empowerment, health, and income to measure its impact on human development.

A wide-reaching self-initiative

There is still hope.

Many may recognize the importance of considering measures for sustainable development, but only a few have ignited the problem into a charity-based initiative.

“Considering our growing population, systemic failure in our infrastructure despite the huge government intervention and major reliance on importation, are serious flags to believe poverty is prevalent in the country. While infrastructure projects provide temporary alleviation and improves workers livelihood, sustained poverty alleviation is more in small business growth, export-oriented entrepreneurship and support from government to grow various industries that our teeming jobless youth can fit in.” Olubukola Isinkaye, the founder and CEO of Metamorphoo, said in an interview.

Olubukola’s mission was to fill two gaps: Create a positive impact within the society through a poverty alleviation scheme and empower Nigerian youths through mentorship and coaching (human development scheme).

“At Metamorphoo, our core values are what keeps us awake every day. Our passion is the business of benefitting others. It thrives on good structure, accountability, and passion – hence we exist based on good governance, accountability, and passion (GAP)”. She explained.

To meet these needs, her NGO engages first with those in need. They carry out due diligence to understand the problem before creating a sustainable intervention in people’s lives. Her company then fosters personal accountability through coaching and mentoring for beneficiaries.

An example of such an integrated approach can be found in the vocational empowerment of over 50 women to set up their businesses across the country. This framework further extends to medical support providing 40 underprivileged adults in Kano state, one-year medical insurance to ensure a healthy living for business sustainability. Additionally, the NGO has created many green jobs and career growth for young people, while giving them access to value-added services like mentorship.

The Business Model

The approach to providing technical assistance and financial support to the less privileged comes with its challenges. First, Metarmorphoo has to overcome the fraudulent perception sponsors/donors have about NGOs. There are concerns of mismanagement which follows reluctance to give financial support.

But, to rise above this challenge, Metamorphoo runs a transparent and well-governed network for human development schemes which encourages confident donations to the cause.  “We operate based on referrals from reliable and dependable sources and also carry out extensive research on our beneficiaries. Due diligence and profiling are everything in this business. However, we ensure all operations are discrete and well accounted for”. She added.

By doing this, Metamorphoo drives transformation in communities that grow into an empowered and equitable society.

Closing the gap

In the end, the standard of human and economic resources we have today will not fuel the economic growth we envisage. There is a need to bridge this gap.  Becoming a role model and helping others despite the difficult terrain in Africa is something every privileged young and old person should consider.

For Metamorphoo, the journey to transforming lives through financial, technical, and medical support continues. “In the next 10 years, we hope to have 10,000 beneficiaries produced by a chain of direct beneficiaries who have gone ahead to benefit others.  It is a tall dream, so is our passion and we are very sure we can achieve that.”