The Federal Government declared on Thursday that 1,940,004 vulnerable Nigerians were currently receiving N5,000 cash gifts every month. The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, said this at a One-Day Stakeholders’ Retreat On National Social Investment (Establishment) Bill organised by the Senate Committee on Social Duties.
Farouq was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Nasir Gwarzo. The minister explained that the objective of the National Social Investment Programme Establishment Bill was to provide a statutory and institutional framework for the implementation of the National Social Investment Programme. She noted that the NSIP was created in 2016 by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to address social and economic inequalities and alleviate poverty among Nigerians.
According to her, there are four social support programmes that are meant to empower the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians to enable them to attain an acceptable standard of living. She said the NSIP was directly and indirectly impacting the lives of poor Nigerians through its four cluster programmes . These, she said, included the N-Power Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, and the Conditioner Cash Transfer Programme.
The programmes, she added, were designed to serve as various forms of social safety nets specifically targeting those at the bottom of the social ladder who require some form of assistance to enable them to become productive members of society and prevent more people from falling below poverty line. She said, “A wide range of Sustainable Development Goals including poverty reduction, education, health, social inclusion and empowerment can be achieved through the NSIP.
