Prince Justice Faloye, national publicity secretary of Afenifere and president of the ASHE Foundation think tank, has called for a national “war on poverty” in Nigeria. He argued that successive democratic governments since 1999 have neglected Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution, which he says contains the blueprint for Nigeria's economic recovery.
Neglect of Constitutional Directives
Faloye told journalists that political leaders have ignored the Constitution’s social and economic directives while pursuing policies that have worsened living conditions for ordinary Nigerians. He criticized recent economic measures such as currency devaluation, fuel-subsidy removal, and increased taxation as reforms that “tighten the economic noose on the poor.”
“Chapter Two of the Constitution prescribes everything needed to make Nigeria great, economic, political, sociocultural, education, health and foreign policy,” Faloye said. “Yet it has been neglected by all parties since 1999, until the SDP made it the focus of its 2027 manifesto. Section 16, in particular, is essential to making everything else work.”
Provisions of Chapter II
Faloye outlined Chapter Two’s provisions, citing Section 14 on sovereignty and social justice, Section 15 on political objectives, Section 16 on economic objectives, Section 17 on social objectives, Section 18 on education, Sections 19–23 on foreign policy, environment, culture, media and ethics, and provisions on citizenship. He argued that politicians have breached Section 14 both politically, through electoral malpractice, and economically, by adopting neoliberal policies he regards as foreign-inspired.
“They have failed the primary purpose of government: security and welfare,” Faloye said.
Colonial Economic Models Blamed
Faloye blamed policymakers’ ideological alignment with colonial-era economic models for Nigeria’s persistent poverty. He said most elite politicians still favour an economy structured around exporting primary goods and importing manufactured products, which he described as a continuation of “plantation economic exploitation.”
“Today Nigeria remains a poor, neocolonial economy, with over 90% of our labour in the informal sector, agriculture, retail and transport, earning unliveable wages and lacking basic benefits,” he said. He noted that manufacturing contributes less than 10% of GDP, and that three low-wage subsectors (food and beverage, cement and textiles) account for 77% of manufacturing output.
Faloye disputed claims that expanding agriculture alone will trigger industrialisation, saying that Nigeria already has high agricultural value added but suffers from poor logistics. He said lack of railways and haulage causes up to 40% post-harvest losses, reducing returns and depressing wages.
SDP’s “Big Push” Proposal
Faloye endorsed the Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) “Big Push” economic proposal, articulated by presidential candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo, which he described as the only viable alternative to current reforms. The plan prioritises large-scale public investment in two pillars: housing (the consumer market) and railways (the industrial launchpad).
“Homes are the ultimate store of wealth that stimulate consumer demand,” he said. “Railways have the highest income and employment multiplier effects across the economy.”
Faloye argued that a massive public-works programme, comparable to the 1933 New Deal or China’s infrastructure drives, is needed to transform Nigeria’s productive base. He proposed an ambitious housing target to address homelessness and population growth: building at least 2,500 housing units daily (one million per year). He said the private sector currently builds fewer than 400,000 units annually, while federal plans budgeted 25,000 homes for 2025. He called instead for 7,000 homes daily to meet a “roof over every head.”
Railway Infrastructure Plan
On rail infrastructure, Faloye proposed a national grid that would begin with three west–east mainlines (Lagos to Calabar, Ilorin to Yola and Sokoto to Maiduguri) and three south–north lines (Lagos to Sokoto, Port Harcourt to Kano, Calabar to Maiduguri), with states and local governments linking to the mainlines. He said a nationwide programme to build roughly 10 kilometres of railway per day would generate decades of economic growth.
Financing Through Modern Monetary Theory
To finance the programme, Faloye said the SDP would rely on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) tools for deficit budgeting rather than foreign loans. He acknowledged that large-scale spending risks inflation, but argued that the rate of value added must outpace inflation to preserve purchasing power. He also suggested deploying the Nigerian Defence Industries Corporation to reduce contractor costs and inefficiencies by leveraging the military’s nationwide capacity.
“If we build our economy from the roots of the consumer and producer markets, providing housing and a railway industrial launchpad, then free education, free health, true social democracy and political stability will follow,” Faloye said. According to him, “This is how Nigeria can fulfil the objectives of Chapter Two and restore human dignity.”
