Poverty can be defined as the inability to achieve a certain minimal standard of living. With
the severe economic shocks that rocked the Nigerian economy during the early 1980s came
real and perceived increases in the level of poverty in the country. Among the factors
contributing to the shocks were declining prices of oil, the country's main export, and rises in
real international interest rates that compounded the external debt. The major underlying
reason, however, was domestic policy mistakes. Economic reforms were introduced by the
government of Nigeria in mid 1986 in a structural adjustment programme that included
exchange rate devaluation, trade and financial reforms, and budgetary and monetary
contraction. These reforms were expected to revitalize the economy's growth. In turn, growth
was expected to contribute noticeably to improved equity in the country.