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U.S. economic polarization crying out for attention
By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
The United States is the most economically polarized among Western countries. It has long been stuck in the conundrum where the rich get richer and the poor become poorer.
According to the latest data from its Census Bureau, the U.S. Gini coefficient hit 0.494 in 2021, setting a new record. The yawning wealth gap has become a chronic malaise of American society, leaving an indelible stain on the country’s democracy and human rights record.
Since the 1970s, income inequality and wealth disparity in the U.S. have continually deepened. According to a Federal Reserve’s latest report, the total wealth of the richest 1 percent reached a record $45.9 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, more than that of the bottom 90 percent combined.
A Bloomberg report said that more and more wealth is getting to the top of the “pyramid,” which is the latest signal of the widening wealth gap in American society.
Currently, 37 million American people are still living below the poverty line. A survey by Pew Research Center suggested that one-in-four U.S. parents say there have been times in the past year when they could not afford food their family needed or to pay their rent or mortgage.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz commented that the U.S. has become a wealthy country full of poor people and a huge gap is dividing its upper class and other classes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified economic inequality in the U.S. Excessive money supply and large-scale fiscal spending drove up stock and housing prices, bringing enormous benefits to wealthier asset owners. According to a Fed report on household wealth, the total wealth of the richest 1 percent increased by more than $12 trillion, or more than a third, during the course of the pandemic.
Besides, the economic recession triggered by the pandemic has led to massive job losses and further deterioration in the economic situation of low-income earners. The website of The Atlantic said that low-income people in the U.S. would usually delay seeing a doctor when they became ill, not because they did not want to recover, but because they had no money at all.
What’s more ironic is that during the pandemic, it was difficult for those in need to reach the relief measures of the U.S. A UN human rights expert said that U.S. responses to COVID-19 have fallen people in poverty.
The economic polarization has exacerbated social injustice in the U.S.
In the country, access to higher education is disproportionately skewed toward the rich, while the low-income group has no equal access to education. A study found that at 38 elite colleges in the country, more students came from the top 1 percent of the income scale than from the entire bottom 60 percent.
A report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that more than 580,000 people were homeless in 2020, with 226,000 sleeping outside, in cars or in abandoned buildings.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association said the gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest percentiles increased to 15.51 years in 2021.
Problems including growing ethnic conflicts, frequent urban riots and serious violent crimes in the country are all closely related to the widening wealth gap.
The wealth polarization in the U.S is inherent to its own political system and the interests of the capital that its government represents.
Over a hundred years ago, Republican Senator Mark Hanna said of American politics: “There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can’t remember what the second one is.”
Under the influence of money politics, the American government is more willing to serve a small group of rich people, rather than the interests of the majority of voters.
A study by the American think tank Niskanen Center showed that Members of Congress are usually more responsive to the opinions of the rich than the poor in their districts. Low-income constituents have a hard time holding their representatives accountable.
Singaporean scholar Kishore Mahbubani pointed out that the U.S. is functioning as a plutocracy instead of a democracy. A democracy is a government of the people, by the people, for the people, while a plutocracy is a government of the one percent, by the one percent, for the one percent, he added.
In the U.S., the world’s number one capitalist country, polarization between the rich and the poor is crying out for attention. U.S. democracy, which cannot find a solution to the wealth gap, is unquestionably hypocritic. The country should reach out to the people at the bottom, face up to the grim reality of the ever-widening wealth gap at home and take earnest measures to solve the problem.
By Fabian Apechihin
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned that petrol prices could rise to ₦5,000 per litre under President Bola Tinubu’s administration if the government fails to address concerns surrounding oil revenues and public spending.
Atiku raised the alarm through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, following the latest petrol price increase.
He questioned why Nigerians were paying as much as ₦1,470 per litre when crude oil was trading at approximately $102.52 per barrel.
“With crude oil around $102.52 per barrel, Nigerians are paying as much as N1,470 per litre. In 2008, when crude oil reached about $147 per barrel, petrol sold at N65 per litre under the Yar’Adua administration,” Atiku said.
The former vice president called for a reconciliation of oil revenues and deductions from 2023 to date, arguing that Nigerians should be able to establish how much revenue was generated, what deductions were made before distribution and where the funds eventually went.
“Nigerians deserve accounts they can interrogate, not accounting labels designed to discourage questions,” he said.
Atiku also questioned the use of funds saved following the removal of the petrol subsidy, recalling the government’s earlier assurances that the savings would create room for increased investment in education, healthcare and infrastructure.
“After all the pain imposed on Nigerians, they have a right to ask: where are the subsidy savings and where is the money?” he asked.
He further called for scrutiny of financial transactions involving the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, OML 143, oil production revenues and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s international liquefied natural gas trading operations.
“These allegations are too serious to be answered with press statements and political insults. Every barrel can be measured, every cargo identified and every legitimate payment traced,” Atiku said.
The former vice president’s remarks come amid continuing public debate over petrol pricing, oil revenue management and the economic impact of subsidy removal on Nigerians.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday hosted the former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, in Abuja, in a meeting that has attracted attention amid growing political realignments ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Neither Atiku nor Aisha publicly disclosed details of their discussions or indicated whether the meeting centred on political matters.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of renewed interest in the Buhari family’s political influence, particularly in Katsina State.
In May, Yusuf Buhari, son of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, won the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary for the Sandamu/Daura/Mai’adua Federal Constituency seat in Katsina State. He secured 6,386 votes, defeating Auwal Daura, who polled 322 votes.
The outcome generated considerable interest within political circles in the Daura axis, where the Buhari family has maintained a strong political presence.
Aisha Buhari has also remained active in promoting the legacy of her late husband, who died in London on July 13, 2025.
In July, she described education and human capital development as among Muhammadu Buhari’s most important legacies while speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for a Computer Science Complex at Al-Qalam University, Katsina.
The project is being financed with proceeds from the book From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, which chronicles the former president’s life and public service.
Aisha said the initiative was aimed at preserving Buhari’s legacy through investment in education, knowledge and innovation rather than through the construction of monuments.
Although the purpose and outcome of Wednesday’s meeting between Atiku and Aisha were not publicly disclosed, the encounter has drawn attention as political actors and groups continue to position themselves ahead of the 2027 elections.
- As Gov AbdulRazaq Is Turbaned As Sadauna Of Ilorin Emirate
Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Vice President Kashim Shettima has stressed the need for politicians to embrace one another, play politics without bitterness and according to the rules in order to ensure an astronomical growth and development for the country.
Shettima made the appeal on Wednesday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, at the turbaning of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as the Sardauna of Ilorin Emirate by the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, while admonishing
Nigerians to serve with humility, do good to one another and have forgiving spirit, as they, according to him, would spend more time after office.
He added: “Power is given by God to the people He so wishes and not because we are better than others. I, therefore, call on all politicians to unite themselves as one family despite their political differences.
“Take a cue from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that I serve as his assistant. He is a good and decent man who has the love and interest of Nigerians at heart.”
Shettima explained that when they assumed office in 2023, the economy of the country was at the brink of collapse, but President Tinubu refused to pass blame; with courage he accepted both the assets and liabilities and moved on.
He further disclosed that during the 2023 electioneering campaign, only six out of the 19 northern governors supported Tinubu’s presidential aspiration, based on the erroneous belief that Baba (Buhari) didn’t like him, adding: “But today the President has embraced everybody as his own and things are going on well”.
He added: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a good man by all standard; he believes in the people that work with him.”
Shettima also thanked the Emir of Ilorin for the honour done to Governor AbdulRazaq, which , he noted, was based on his contributions to the development of the Ilorin Emirate and the State at large, adding that “the father of the Governor had planted a solid footprint in the Ilorin Emirate and by extension Nigeria as a whole”.
Shettima, who expressed optimism that this new chapter would create a stronger bond between the Emirate and the family of Governor AbdulRazaq, urged the people to continue to pray for the progress and development of the Emirate and the State as a whole.
He commended Governor AbdulRazaq for his efforts in the massive improvement on infrastructure to assist the people of the State, as well as for his
contributions to the actualisation of policies and programmes of government at the federal level towards providing succour to average Nigerians.
In his remarks, the Matawaliof Ilorin Emirate, Dr.Alimi AbdulRazaq, said the title of Sardauna bestowed on the Governor was well deserved, thanking the Emir of Ilorin for finding the Governor worthy of the noble recognition by the Emirate.
Dr,Alimi urged the Governor to see the tittle as a clarion call to provide more dividends of democracy to the nooks and crannies of the State.
The turbaning ceremony witnessed large turnout of dignitaries, including the Governor of Niger state, Umar Bago, Governor of Kaduna state, Senator Uba Sani, Governor of Imo State ,Hope Uzodinma, and Governors of Kebbi ,Katsina States.
Others are the Emir of Zazzau Emirate, Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamali, the Deputy Governors of Sokoto, Anambra, Nasarawa, Delta, Ondo, and Oyo States.
Fuel Price May Hit ₦5,000 Per Litre Under Tinubu — Atiku Warns
2027: Atiku Hosts Aisha Buhari in Abuja Amid Political Realignment
2027: VP Shettima Urges Politicians To Play Politics without Bitterness
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