President Goodluck Jonathan says Nigeria’s average life expectancy has now increased to 54.
On his official facebook page, the president, who is currently on a campaign tour around the country, said in the next few weeks he will be reporting to his facebook constituency what he has done in the last four years.
A World Bank report had ranked Nigeria 17th lowest in the world with an average life expectancy pegged at 52 years as at 2011.
The report had showed that the bottom 20 countries were mainly sub-Saharan African countries, except Afghanistan, where the average life expectancy was put at 49 years.
According to the report, five African countries, Sierra Leone, Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau and Central African Republic, ranked lowest in life expectancy with 48 years.
About 30 countries, mostly in Europe, have average life expectancy of 80 years and above, with Switzerland and Hong Kong having the highest average of 83 years.
The report, which compared life expectancy in 1990 and in 2011, showed that most countries improved over the period of about two decades.
Read also: Congo, Mali Liberia, beat Nigeria in life expectancy ranking
The world average life expectancy rose from 65 years in 1990 to 70 years in 2011.
For low-income regions, it rose from 53 years to 59 years, whereas in the middle-income regions, it rose from 64 years to 69 years.
Nigeria’s Center for Disease Control had said poverty and pollution have reduced the national life expectancy to 47 years old, one of the lowest in West Africa.
“In the following days and weeks, I would be reporting back to you on what I have done with the mandate you gave me four years ago.
“In many ways, I see you as a special constituency of mine because of the love and support you have shown me on this page since I came on facebook on the 28th of June 2010.
“At that time, the average life expectancy in Nigeria was 47 years. Five years down the line, working together, we have succeeded in increasing Nigeria’s average life expectancy to 54 years as at today and climbing”, the president said on his page on Wednesday.
The number of poor Nigerians remained at 58 million, adding that more than half of the figure is located in the North East or North West.
Specifically, it noted, “Poverty rates range from 16 percent in the South West to 52 percent in the North East. While the South and North Central experienced declines in the poverty rate between 2010/2011 and 2012/2013, the poverty rate increased almost unchanged in the North West.”
However, majority of Nigerians still cannot feed or meet the basic necessities of life because they live on less than $1.25 (68.0 percent) and $2 (84.5 percent) per day, according to a 2010 figure which is still relevant.
