One credit no one can deny the Buhari/Osinbajo administration is the implementation of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP). There have been various attempts in the past to have a structured social investment programme for the country to address some basic challenges Nigerians are battling with, which includes lack of employment opportunities, more children out of school and lack of access to loans for the common man and woman engaged in one petty trade or the other, but not much have been achieved.
With a yearly proposed budget of 500billion since, the NSIP is in indeed the most ambitious social protection programmes ever conceived and implemented in the country.
Undoubtedly, many Nigerians have benefited from the various broad programmes under which the social investment scheme is being executed, namely; Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSF), Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP), N-Power Initiative and the National Social Safety Net Programme for the Vulnerable Households.
If the programme is sustained and implemented according to the original concept, many more vulnerable Nigerians will continue to benefit from the succour provided to rescue them from poverty and hunger as envisaged by the government.
However, like many other government programmes, its implementation has become an issue of concern, with various complaints about the disbursement of the funds, selection of beneficiaries and non-compliance with the guidelines by beneficiaries.
Beyond the figures of persons said to have benefitted from the programmes which the federal government claimed during the recent general election, there are arguments about the sustainable impact the intervention can have in the long run and how best the projects should be implemented.
To ensure strict compliance with the project guidelines, there is need for close monitoring at every stage to ensure that some officials are not enriching themselves at the expense of those who really need the liveline. There have been reports of food vendors not getting the actual amount they are entitled to provide food for primary school children in some states and in other cases, the quality of food provided is not as good as specified.
The food vendors are supposed to buy their foodstuff from local farmers where they are based as part of the wealth distribution chain concept of the programme, but this is not strictly complied with by some.
There are also complaints of some officials demanding payment to enrol beneficiaries and those who select on other considerations, including political affiliations.
All the above infractions and others noted by those assigned to monitor implementation across the country should be investigated and necessary steps taken to ensure that the purpose of the programme is not defeated.
As desirable as the programme is, there is the need to gradually begin to institutionalise it if it is to last beyond this administration. It would have been enough for the office of the Vice President to provide policy guidelines and direction for the programme, but the situation where Professor Yemi Osinbajo personally hands over cash to some beneficiaries ahead of the last election gives room for undue politicization of the programme.
If the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku had won the presidential election, chances are that the NSIP would have been discontinued on the excuse that it was a political weapon used against the party.
There are many existing government organisations through which the social investment funds can be disbursed instead of setting up another parallel structure.