URBAN POVERTY IN NIGERIA THE REMEDIAL MEASURES
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the Urban Poverty in Nigeria: The Remedial Measures. Urban poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon, and the poor suffer from various deprivations such as lack of access to employment; adequate housing and services, social protection, lack of access to health, education and personal security. It is often characterized by cumulative deprivations as it is closely related with asset ownership.  The study recommended   that there should be improving life in rural areas, better urban planning & slum rehabilitation, societal fairness to the citizen by the government.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION ONE
•    Urban Poverty In Nigeria
SECTION TWO
•    The Concept Of Urban Poverty
•    Main Features Of The Urban Health Crises In Nigeria
•    The Environment
•    Causes Of Urban Poverty
•    When Rural Poverty Becomes Urban
•    Effects of Urbanization
•    Challenges Of Urban Poverty

SECTION THREE
•    How to Tackle the Causes of Urban Poverty
SECTION FOUR
•    Conclusion
REFERENCES
SECTION ONE
URBAN POVERTY IN NIGERIA
There is no objective definition of poverty and no objective way of measuring how many people are poor. The numbers differ greatly according to different plausible definitions (Stein et al., 1995). The definitions of poverty vary widely among international agencies and countries, the  most  commonly  used  working  definition  for international poverty comparisons, and the poverty line is per  capita expenditures  of  US  $1  per person  per  day (adjusted  for  differences  in  purchasing  power)  (World Bank, 1990). While for some it is defined as US $2 per person per day, others calculate minimum caloric requirement as the poverty line. The United Nations has favored  composite  indices  which  take  into  account access  to  Education  and  basic  health  into  the computation  of  poverty  and  human  development measures.

In the end, the choice of  the poverty line is subjective. Most of the poor in the urban areas in Nigeria live  in  overcrowded,  unsanitary  slums  and  squatter settlements  and  often  do  not  have  access  to  basic infrastructure   and   services. They   are  forced  to live in illegal  and  informal  settlements  because  they  cannot enter  the  formal  land  and  housing  markets.  The fundamental  national  objective  is  to  achieve development,  central  to  the  attainment  of  improved societal welfare. World Bank (1996) describes Nigeria’s case as a paradox: the country is as rich as its citizens are poor.

Over  the last  few  decades, cities  in  both  developing and  developed  countries  have  emerged  as  the  major form of human settlement. By the turn of this century, we will be witness to a ubiquitous scenario where more people will live in and around cities than in rural areas, Nigeria inclusive. In 1800, only 50 million people lived in towns and cities worldwide.  By 1975 there were 1.5 billion, also by the year 2000; this will be three billion - more than the entire population on Earth in 1960. Cities have,  in  effect  become  a  barometer  of  humankind's "progress"  into  the  21st  century,  whether  this  is  an upward trend or downward. Concentration of economic, social, political and administrative organs of a nation  or region in cities has made it a magnet for the rich as well as, poor households (Srinivas, 1999). Urban poverty has its roots in the profound inequalities that characterize our societies in  a social  structure  which displays  a  disdain.