How to Work Your Way Out of Poverty

To get ahead in life and step out of poverty, there is no other way than to work. There is no substitute to work. The harder and smarter you work, the wealthier you become. You need to work if you want to earn money and live a good life. The commonest measure of wealth is money but wealth is not all about money. While wealth is abundance of valuable possessions including money, “money is a unit of value, a medium of exchange, a standard of deferred payment.” Payment for goods and services which result from efforts of people either individually or collectively in form of work is usually done with money. A large accumulation of money usually translates to wealth.

Obtaining money is done in one of or a combination of four ways namely:

1.    You can earn it.
2.    You can borrow it.
3.    You can beg for it or
4.    You can steal it.

The first three are legal while the fourth is illegal but they all involve some measure of work but in varying degrees of intensity. However, striving for and earning money legitimately in form of work is the most dignified way of obtaining money. The more productive work one does therefore, the more money he or she earns. “The amount of money you earn is in direct proportion to the demand for what you do your ability to do it and the difficulty of ignoring or replacing you.”



“Work is the foundation of business and the source of all prosperity.” Work is an “activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something.” The direct result of work is a Product or Service which can be sold or exchanged to obtain money. That some strength or exertion (that is work), is required before money is made stands as the main reason why some people have money while others don’t. The ranks of the poor are populated by those who can not work for one reason or the other. Many will work and work hard if they find suitable engagements. Those who make and accumulate wealth do not necessarily do different things; they do things differently. This separates them from the poor. You must have the strength, ability and willingness to perform or do a duty or render a service before you can aspire to make money. Those who attempt to get something for nothing usually end up disappointed because the law of “Cause and Effect” is a natural law. You must put in something to get out something in compliance with this natural “Law of Reciprocity.” No human activity has ever succeeded to break this law without unpleasant consequences.

You can decide to work and earn a salary or you can decide to work for yourself. However, I must point out that the surest and fastest way to wealth and comfort is through self-employment. At some point in everyone’s life, it becomes inevitable that you will be self-employed. If you work for someone and you earn a salary, one of three things must happen to end that relationship. The first is you could resign, second is you could be retrenched and thirdly, you could retire. When any of these happens, self-employment and private entrepreneurship becomes imperative.

Research findings indicate that nearly 80% of workers are reluctant to work because many find themselves in jobs they do not like. Do we need to search too far why poverty is endemic in our world? Something needs to be done to check this reluctance. People must on their own find and do only those things they like to do. This is private entrepreneurship. To get ahead in life, you must know the work you are doing, believe in it and like it too so as to obtain maximum output and rewarding results. The only viable way out of our vicious cycle of poverty is through self-employment and not 9-5 jobs. Self-employment is all about going into business for yourself. Even if you now work for someone, you still need one or more additional-income enterprises on the side if you ever hope to escape poverty.

The Politics of Grazing Reserves in Nigeria

There are credible records that grazing reserves in Nigeria started during the pre-colonial era (Bako and Ingawa 1988). Although formally introduced by the British, grazing reserves were demarcated by the Fulani who conquered and ruled Northern Nigeria. Some research has shown that for all classes of land use, except uncultivated land, grazing has intensified all over Nigeria. The evolution of grazing reserves in Nigeria shows a history of problems in the grazing land development and these problems have attained murderous proportions in recent times.

What is a Grazing Reserve?

A grazing reserve is “a piece of land that the government acquires, develops, and releases to the pastoral Fulani for cattle grazing. The 3rd National Development Plan of 1975-1980 proposed acquisition of a total of 22 million hectares of land for constituting into Grazing Reserves. In Nigeria to date, a little over 4.30 million hectares have been acquired through the establishment of 415 Grazing Reserves (Gazetted and Ungazetted) in 21 states including the FCT.” The dilemma is that the cattle herders who are mostly Fulani have refused or neglected to confine themselves and their animals strictly to these reserves. That is the root cause of all the problems they incessantly have with local farmers all over Nigeria. There must be a way out.

A Credible Way Out of the Problem

Because of continuous skirmishes and even murders and arson between cattle grazers and local farmers, it has become imperative to find a lasting solution. Inevitably, we will end up with grazing reserves/ranches as dictated by modern animal husbandry practices all around the world. Here now is how that can be practicable with fewer problems:



01. Nomadic animal husbandry is now archaic and unhelpful so the nomads should be educated and encouraged to settle in reserves/ranches.
02.  Nigerian government should facilitate the settlement of the nomads by education and encourage them to modernize livestock farming.
03. If that is done, they can then be integrated with the rest of the agricultural industry with a view to allowing the livestock industry contribute its rightful quota unfettered to the Nigerian economy.
04. It will be most helpful to confine cattle ranches only to extreme northern states like Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa and Gombe for practical and economic reasons.
05. Protecting human lives, property and the environment should be a major concern of the Nigerian government and the establishment of cattle ranches will help greatly in that quest.
06. With cattle ranches in place, the livestock farmers can easily be helped with extension services, veterinary services and modern animal husbandry services.
07. The Nigerian government should as a matter of policy borrow a leaf from the USA, Kenya and other countries with zero nomadic grazing policy to stop incessant farmers/herders clashes in the country.
08. The government should at all costs avoid the use of legislation when trying to solve a social problem because experience has shown that such legislations always manage to aggravate the problem.

Final word! Other farmers in Nigeria depend on their crops for survival the way the cattle herders depend on their animals. Government can do well to encourage both sides to co-exist side by side. That is the only credible way to lasting peace in Nigeria.