Systemic Poverty as a Tool for Economic and Social Slavery: From Colonialism to Political Class Colonisation

Abstract: This review examines the idea that systemic poverty is a deliberate and enduring instrument of economic and social enslavement, tracing its evolution from colonial exploitation to contemporary political class domination in Africa, with a specific focus on Nigeria. The study argues that poverty in Nigeria is not merely a consequence of mismanagement or underdevelopment but a structural tool used to maintain control, suppress resistance, and perpetuate dependency. Through historical and analytical exposition, it explores how colonialism institutionalised deprivation by embedding extractive economic systems, hierarchical governance, and ideological subjugation. The review further discusses how postcolonial elites inherited and perfected these mechanisms, transforming political independence into a new form of internal colonisation, where poverty serves as political capital and a mechanism of control. The social and psychological consequences include structural fragmentation, ethical erosion, youth disillusionment, and the feminisation of poverty, which act as barriers to collective progress. Finally, the paper proposes pathways toward liberation through consciousness reawakening, institutional reforms, economic diversification, and moral leadership. It concludes that the eradication of systemic poverty requires not charity but structural emancipation anchored in justice, productivity, and collective dignity.