Despite its oil wealth, however, a new government study says the number of Nigerians sinking into extreme poverty has grown, particularly in the predominantly Muslim north.

　　VOA sent reporters across the region to hear what some are doing to survive.

　　"We are headed for trouble"

　　It is early on this Tuesday morning and Mallam Muhammadu is already at work, scavenging through trash bins and dumps in Nigeria's northeastern city of Yola, in Adamawa state.

　　This is the only work he can find to feed his family in this city of more than one million people. If he is lucky, he will make 90 cents to $1 after a long day's work. But he said poverty has become so extreme in the oil-rich country, it is difficult to find anything of value these days.

　　"Can you imagine scratching a living out of filth and then suddenly even the filth you rely on becomes valueless? You can see my bag - empty," he said.

　　A government report released on February 13 says a majority of Nigerians are living on less than $1 a day, like Muhammadu, even as Nigeria's economy grows.

　　The National Bureau of Statistics says 61 percent of all Nigerians - nearly 100 million [97.6 million] - made less than a $1 a day in 2010.  That is 10 percent higher than the last poverty study in 2004, and the report notes that income inequality also has increased since then.

　　According to the agency, the worst poverty can be found in northern Nigeria, particularly in the northwest and northeast.

　　Muhammadu blames government corruption and leaders who, once elected, ignore the plight of their impoverished constituents. He charges that many put self-profit ahead of all else, leaving little for the people and the country's notoriously poor infrastructure. While Nigeria is a major oil producer on the global market, the West African country must import gasoline because it is unable to refine its crude oil at home.

　　"Our leaders must address this acute poverty or we are headed for trouble," he warned.

　　Muhammadu ventures into neighborhoods using a bullhorn to announce his arrival. He picks though bins and offers to buy what residents no longer want. Perhaps old shoes or a broken lamp he can repair and sell, or damaged cooking utensils, which he can melt and shape into something new.

　　"Masses are now rebelling"

　　Roni Abdullahi Badamasi earns less than $3 a day working as a petty trader in the northern city of Kano, where attacks by a radical Islamic sect have surged this year.