At the 2025 Nigerian Economic Summit (NES), the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) took center stage in shaping the national conversation on displacement, violence, and Nigeria’s emerging poverty patterns.
On September 11, 2025, Dr. Judith-Ann Walker, Executive Director of dRPC, moderated a high-level panel discussion that explored how conflict, insecurity, and internal displacement are driving a new wave of poverty across Nigeria.
The panel brought together five distinguished experts:
- Hafsat, Research Consultant, Jigawa
- Stanley, Research Consultant, Anambra
- Kabiru Abdullahi, Senior Special Adviser on Systems Strengthening and Data Integration
- Musa Emmanuel Umar, Director of Research, NIPSS, Kuru
- Mang, War and Natural Disaster Management Expert
Together, the panelists examined data from recent studies showing that banditry, insurgency, and forced displacement are creating a permanent underclass of poor Nigerians, particularly women, adolescents, and children in high-risk regions.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Walker emphasized that Nigeria’s poverty response must go beyond short-term palliatives:
“Displacement is not a temporary humanitarian challenge – it is reshaping the social and economic fabric of our nation. We must address it through integrated strategies that combine education access, livelihood support, and peacebuilding.”
The discussion highlighted the need for:
- Robust data collection on displaced populations to guide policy.
- Community-driven interventions that respond to local realities.
- Gender-sensitive poverty alleviation programs to address the growing feminization of poverty.
- Collaborative action between government, research institutions, and civil society to tackle root causes of displacement.
This session reaffirmed dRPC’s commitment to evidence-based advocacy and its mission to ensure that vulnerable communities are not left behind in Nigeria’s poverty reduction and economic recovery agenda.
