FG’s Policies on
FG’s Policies on Poverty Alleviation Making Impact, Says
Udoma
The Minister of Budget and
National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, says Federal Government
poverty alleviation initiatives are making an impact in reducing
poverty.
He stated that the implementation
of these programmes has made many Nigerians, particularly the poor
and vulnerable, to feel directly the impact of governance. He
recalled that last Sunday, the 20th of January, he was
at an event organised by the Ministry of Information at which some
of the beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s Social Investment
Programme gave very moving testimonies of how their lives have been
impacted by the programmes.
“Listening to these testimonies
brought home to me the importance of the work we are doing and how
real lives are transformed by these interventions. This work is
important, and we must all work hard to do more. Step by step we
are helping to reduce poverty and ameliorate the plight of the
poorest of our citizens”, he indicated.
Senator Udoma said whilst there
is no doubt that these programmes have been impactful we must
continue to intensify the implementation of these laudable
programmes so that the benefits may touch more and more Nigerians.
He assured that government will continue to focus attention and
activity on the poverty alleviation programmes and will implement
them consistently over a number of years to ensure that we achieve
the desired dramatic reduction in poverty.
The Minister who was speaking at
an International Social Protection Cross-learning Summit in Abuja
on Tuesday, said the determination of the Buhari Administration to
continue its work to substantially reduce poverty among Nigerians
are the major reasons for the Summit; to see how the lessons from
implementing government’s social protection programmes can be
applied to further improve the lives of the poor and
vulnerable.
The Summit was organised by International Development Partners
working with the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.
He explained that the objective
of the summit is to deepen stakeholders’ awareness and
understanding of the benefits of continuing the investments we are
making in social protection related programmes in Nigeria. “It will
also provide the opportunity for participants to be briefed about
the the various social protection programmes put in place by this
Administration since we assumed office three and half years ago,”
he added. Participants would be expected to proffer suggestions on
how to improve the impact of these very popular
programmes.
This explains the selection of the theme for the Summit
“Improving the Lives of Poor and Vulnerable Nigerians: Lessons from
Implementing Social Protection in Nigeria”.
The Minister pointed out that the
issue of social protection is a core component of the Economic
Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) which was introduced in 2017. “The
Plan has three broad objectives, namely: Restoring Growth,
Investing in our People, and Building a Globally Competitive
Economy. We are committed to the implementation of the ERGP. Social
protection is part of our programme of ‘investing in our people’,
one of the three broad objectives of the Plan.”
He stated that “as a demonstration of that commitment we have,
since 2016, consistently set aside a provision of N500 billion in
our annual budgets to address issues of social protection. This is
unprecedented in the history of our country. In addition, the total
capital budget for social development programmes across MDAs
(Health, Education, Labour and Employment, Youth and Sports)
experienced a quantum leap from N48.17 billion in 2015 to N214.48
billion in 2018.”
Following on the recommendations
of the 2016 Summit which was focused on “Evidence and Learning in
Improving Social Protection in Nigeria”, the Minister announced
that Nigeria has developed her own National Social Protection
Policy (NSPP) which will be formally launched during the current
summit.
The NSPP has 16 measures aimed at
addressing the challenges of human development. It provides a mix
of policies and programmes designed for individuals and households
to reduce poverty and socio-economic shocks, promote and enhance
livelihood and life of dignity among our people. This policy is
meant to cater for the vulnerable citizens of this country from
cradle to grave.
Signed
Akpandem James
Special Adviser
(Media) to the Hon. Minister