‘Buhari will end poverty among 100m Nigerians’

Faith Yahaya, Abuja

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, has said the ministry will help President Muhammadu Buhari to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

The minister expressed the optimism on Thursday in Barwa, a local settlement in Abuja, in her address at the celebration of this year’s International Day for Eradication of Poverty.

The global theme for the celebration is: Acting Together to Empower Children, Their Families and Community To End Poverty and Nigeria’s sub-theme is: Enabling A Poverty-Free Nation.

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Umar Farouq said: “The ministry has poverty eradication as a fundamental part of its mandate and will drive the fulfilment of President Buhari’s vision to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

“Under my watch, the ministry will attempt to empower every child and adult living in poverty by putting in place strategic programmes and interventions that will aid economic growth.

“The programmes will also address social needs, like health, social protection and education in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to end poverty in all its forms by 2030.

“Already, commendable efforts by the National Social Investment Office have impacted 12,887,207 beneficiaries directly, and 44,588,628 secondary beneficiaries.

“These have been achieved through programmes, like the National Cash Transfer Programme, where monthly cash transfer of N5,000 are made to the poor and vulnerable households…”

Also, the Federal Government promised to establish a national register for the poor.

It said the register would help to know the exact number of poor Nigerians with the aim of lifting them out of poverty.

Umar Farouq broke the news at Barwa.

She said: “We are going to have a register. We know there is one that is in existence, but we are going to improve on it. Our first step is to have data because without data, we will not be able to achieve what we have set out to achieve.

“So, a unified social register is coming up very soon.”