If the federal government doesn’t offer temporary solutions after fuel subsidies are eliminated amid the current economic difficulties, at least 7.1 million Nigerians could fall into extreme poverty.

This information was released by the World Bank on Tuesday in Abuja in the Nigeria Development Update for June 2023.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu implemented some economic policies upon taking office, including the elimination of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange window, which increased the cost of transportation as well as the prices of goods and services.

Insecure households will lose at least 5,700 in monthly income if no measures are taken to counteract the rising inflation rate of 22.41 percent, according to a World Bank report on Nigeria’s development update.

The report stated that without compensation, an additional 7.1 million people would be forced into poverty. “The poor and economically insecure households will face an equivalent income loss of N5,700 per month,” it added.

The World Bank issued a warning, predicting that many newly poor and financially unstable households would likely turn to counterproductive coping mechanisms like “not sending children to school, not going to the health facilities to seek preventative healthcare, or cutting back on nutritious dietary choices.”

Remember that 133 million Nigerians are considered to be poor according to the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index study.