A survey conducted by Oxfam, an International nongovernmental organization, has revealed that, while the global economy was on lockdown in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian billionaires grew their wealth by 38 per cent. This was even as the world’s ten richest men doubled their fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion.

The survey indicated that the 10 richest people, namely, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault & family, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer and Warren Buffet, as of 30 November 2021, saw their fortunes grew by $821 billion dollars since March 2020.

Meanwhile, the outcome of the survey titled “Inequality Kills” which was made public in Abuja, on Monday, further indicated that, in Nigeria, while few billionaires saw their wealth grow by 38 per cent during the pandemic, 7.4 million people fell into extreme poverty in 2020.

The Report also revealed that two richest billionaires in Nigeria made more wealth than the bottom 63 million Nigerians, thereby, suggesting that, it’s time to correct the extreme inequalities that exists in the society.

Country Director, Oxfam Nigeria, Dr. Vincent Ahonsi, in his remarks, said: “Collectively, the total wealth of three billionaires in Nigeria equal to $24.9 billion, and throughout the pandemic, beginning in mid-March 2020, their wealth grew by $6.9 billion, while the majority of Nigerians became poorer.

“It’s a remarkable surge in wealth at the very top of the society, which has not impacted positively on the majority. We can end this inequality, and it’s a moral duty for the billionaires and corporations to play their part to end hunger, disease and poverty.”

Ahonsi stated that extreme inequality is a form of economic violence, where policies and political decisions that perpetuate the wealth and power of a privileged few result in direct harm to the vast majority of ordinary people across the world and the planet itself.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated socioeconomic distress impact more on the families, women and girl are faced with unprecedented risk of physical, sexual and psychological abuse and violence,” said Dr. Ahonsi.

Oxfam, thus, recommended that governments urgently claw back the gains made by billionaires by taxing the huge new wealth made since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through permanent wealth and capital taxes.

It also suggested that government invest the trillions that could be raised by the taxes towards progressive spending on universal healthcare and social protection, climate change adaptation, and gender-based violence prevention and programming.

In addition to that, it advised government to tackle sexist and racist laws that discriminate against women, racialized people and create new gender-equal laws to uproot violence and discrimination.

“We should also work towards ending laws that undermine the rights of workers to unionize and strike, and also set up stronger legal standards to protect them.

“Similarly, rich governments must also waive intellectual property rules over COVID-19 vaccine technologies to allow more countries produce safe and effective vaccines to usher in the end of COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Ahonsi.

Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Awwal Rafsanjani, in his remarks, commended Oxfam and its partners for the success of the survey, and advised government to adopt the recommendation of the survey in order to reduce the growing socioeconomic inequality that is partly responsible for the rising insecurity across Nigeria.

He maintained that they are not against the wealthy but there’s need for a significant reduction in the inequality gap in the society. (Adapted from a Daily Sun report)

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