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Tag: poverty alleviation

  • FG hails Alo on employment, poverty alleviation

    FG hails Alo on employment, poverty alleviation

    The Federal Government has commended Prophet Sam Olu Alo for job creation and poverty eradication among Nigerians, particularly youths.

    The government said the cleric has distinguished himself in providing employment for youths, thereby, reducing poverty in the country.

    Speaking in Ibadan at the inauguration and dedication of Adamimogo House, which hosts the Adamimogo 105.1 FM and The Light Hotel and Event Centre owned by the preacher, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Barr. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha stated that the man of God is decreasing kingdom of darkness and increasing the kingdom of God.

    She said: “That is exactly what he has done today. And also, from the seat which I occupy, you are making my job a bit easier, because I know that, you are doing all of these to ensure that poverty is reduced and employment are created. I know that many jobs have been created by this and poverty has been reduced.

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    “So, the Federal Government of Nigeria is excited to say to you keep doing what you have been doing you are not only imparting on the people but also to the Federal Government of Nigeria and you will because we are going to partner with you.

    “You are changing the narratives and we are thinking you for doing this. We shall be supporting you in any way we can.”

    She urged Nigerians to keep supporting the government with prayers.

    Alo said all that he has been doing was to impact on life of people, particularly the youths.

    “I want to give them the platforms to showcase their God given talents to better their lots.

    “Whatever position God has placed you, it is to affect lives of others positively. We should know that we have a limited time to spend on earth,” he stressed. 

    He urged the Federal Government to always train youths in various vocations and trades while buying back whatever they produce to encourage them.

    “This is the model I saw in Turkey. The government there, train the youth in whatever trade of their interest and buy from them their products. This encourages to continue in the trade,” he said..

  • Poverty alleviation: Tunji Bello puts smiles on faces

    The Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Hon. Tunji Bello, has embarked on special initiatives aimed at putting smiles on the faces of people.

    Over the weekend, a teeming mass of the people, comprising members of the All Peoples Congress from various local government areas of Lagos State, including members of the Mainland Independent Group, smiled home with working tools of various kinds which included sewing machines, grinding machines, crates of minerals and bottle water and a substantial amount of cash, in a special edition of his regular empowerment drive, aimed at turning around the lives of the underprivileged for the better.

    Speaking on the occasion, Alhaji Folorunsho Ganiyu, a.k.a Azuka, remarked that if the privileged ones in the society would emulate Tunji Bello’s compassion for the needy.

    A member of the Independent Campaign Organization for Hon. Jide Sanwo-Olu, Hon. Akinfolarin, extolled the humanitarian virtues of Hon. Tunji Bello, adding that “a lot of us, who had been beneficiaries of his kindness, had often imagined what would have become of our fate or situation, in the absence of an exceptional philanthropist and our remarkable benefactor in the person of Hon. Tunji Bello who have always placed the interest of the common man at heart, through his regular empowerment programmes for the masses”.

    Also speaking on the occasion, Alhaji Ibrahim Megida, Special Assistant on Politics to Hon. Tunji Bello, said the SLSG had asked him to enjoin Lagosians as a whole to vote massively to ensure a landslide victory for the APC flag-bearer, Hon Jide Sanwo-Olu, including all the APC candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives.

    Also commenting, Hon. Yinka Ibidapo, an APC stalwart, who was present on the occasion, commended Tunji Bello for his exemplary tenacity in keeping faith  with his empowerment gesture.

    On the occasion were APC stalwarts and also top members of the Mainland Independent Group, Hon Ganiyu Salako, Hon. Nimota Morounkeji, Hon. Dayo Macaulay and Hon. Stephen Ofoensuwa, among others.

  • Poverty alleviation tops NAFEST 2018

    Preparations for this year’s National Festival for Arts and Culture (NAFEST) holding in Port Harcourt Rivers State between October 21 and 27 have reached top gear as the state contingents are putting finishing touches to their participation.

    After a successful meeting of all 36 state Commissioners and Directors of Arts and Culture at Port Harcourt recently, the organisers of the festival, National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC) is not leaving anything to chance as the outing in Port Harcourt promises to re-launch the unity festival into global acceptance and inclusiveness.

    Beyond the regular presentation and showcasing of Nigeria’s culture, arts, crafts and fashion, this year’s NAFEST in Port Harcourt, will create a strategic learning curve on how to alleviate poverty and enthrone a new rural sustainable cultural economy through skill acquisition and exposure to other multi beneficial contents related to Nigerian culture.

    Last year in Kaduna, which was the first under the watch of NCAC Director-General, Otunba Segun Runsewe there was a strategic manifestation of an enduring change and perception of the once neglected festival. But, the Port Harcourt edition of the festival will herald a massive repositioning of the entire gamut of Nigeria’s culture value chain beyond the pedestrian dance drama and accolades of mere street observers.

    According to Runsewe, the unity festival is coming at time Nigeria is becoming the destination to watch as President Buhari diplomatic shuttling across the globe has attracted some massive interest in Nigeria beyond the traditional business frontiers hence the repositioning of culture as the central bank of our creative wealth.

    In the same vein, at the just concluded private sector trade fair in Lagos, Runsewe showcased interesting sidelines of what NCAC will do in Port Harcourt. Already, Governor Wike of Rivers State has promised an enhanced and progressive collaboration to effectively re-jig policy orientation on Rivers very rich and unique culture.

    Interestingly, there are strong indications from the states thatthere is a very strong wind of competition among participants while the message of mainstreaming culture as an economic catalyst will be taken serious.

    Runsewe who is noted to have changed the narratives of Nigeria’s tourism evolution when he held sway at NTDC noted that NAFEST in Garden City will ‘gong’ to the world the best of Nigeria culture, its economic baseline and its diplomatic, unifying influence for national socio-economic and political development.

    He also noted that Nigeria culture which is very diverse and unique will help bridge gaps in the quest to build a conscious and consistent appreciation to the multi ethnic cultural colouration that abounds in Nigeria, regarded as a mini united nations.

    Given the level of preparation of the host state, Governor Wike may use the event to redirect cultural tourism traffic to the oil city and south-south region of Nigeria in general.

  • Why poverty alleviation schemes fail, by cleric

    Popular cleric, Primate Elijah Babatunde Ayodele, has given reasons why various poverty alleviation programmes of government at all levels fail in Nigeria.

    Ayodele, who is the Founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church with headquarters in Lagos, said poverty alleviation schemes in Nigeria flop because they are highly politicised.

    He suggested the creation of a ministry that will look after the aged, widows, orphans and the vulnerable to give them a sense of belonging in the society.

    Ayodele, who is renowned for accuracy of his predictions, spoke yesterday during an empowerment programme he sponsored in his hometown, Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State, where scores of widows received cash and foodstuffs.

    The cleric said the empowerment programme was in honour of his late father, Elder Olalekan Oluwadare Ayodele, who died 15 years ago.

    He said: “If you have a father who cares for you and he dies, I believe there is need to remember him. he Bible says we should remember the dead.

    “I am here to mark the 15 years of his demise alongside my siblings. That is why I came to my hometown, to the family house to do this.

    “I believe that widows in this part of our country need our support and they need welfare. That is why we are giving empowerment to widows and orphans and I believe we can do it better than politicians.

    “We are doing what is written in the Bible that we should remember orphans and widows. In government, such measures don’t last because

    “The government should have a particular ministry to look after the welfare of the aged, widows, orphans and vulnerable people.

    “I have been doing it for over twenty years assisting people in education, healthcare, well-being but that of government don’t last because they do it for politics.”

     

  • World Bank okays $300m for employment, poverty alleviation

    World Bank okays $300m for employment, poverty alleviation

    THE World Bank has voted $300 million to address youth unemployment and poverty in Nigeria.

    Its Sector Leader, Human Development, Prof Foluso Okunmadewa, who made this known on the sidelines of the bank’s training of trainers and registry of beneficiaries, at Iloko-Ijesa, Osun State, said the targeting get 300,000 youths.

    Working under the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), Okunmadewa said the bank will work with state governments to set up a single registry of potential beneficiaries for social assistance.

    The National Unified Registry (NUR),he added, would be used to target subsidies and other government programmes.

    For a start, he said the bank would work with Osun, Oyo and Ekiti states to implement the electronic database.

    The states, he said, would be provided a single electronic database of potential social programme beneficiaries as well as an efficient payment delivery mechanism to enable the government to reach the poor to target groups in an accurate way, and on a large scale when needed.

    Okunmadewa said the bank is determined to make government programmes more responsive to the evolving needs of households.

    The Director-General, Bureau for Social Services, Osun State,Mr Femi Ifaturoti, lamented that the economy was being undermined by social challenges, including unemployment and poverty.

    Expressing the concern of the state government, Ifaturoti said the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is implementing employment generation and social protection programmes.

    The government, he added, believes that the solution is to adopt a mix of fiscal consolidation measures and reinstating social protection policies to protect the poor and vulnerable.

    So far,he said the government has been able to reduce unemployment to three per cent, one of the lowest among the 36 states.

    He said 20,000 youths have been empowered through OYES with monthly stipend of N10,000 each.

    He said the government was moving from a broadly targeted compensation system to a more targeted approach in the future.

    To introduce this approach, he said a more accurate means of targeting is required. This would involve addressing the fragmentation of databases across various agencies by supporting the establishment of a unified registry” where applicants could be ranked according to one welfare measure for distribution of social assistance.

    Ifaturoti said Osun’s adoption of a well-designed and unified targeting system would benefit the poor, increase poverty-reduce impacts, and introducing cost-efficiency to implementation of its welfare programmes.

    On the training, he said, upon completion, the beneficiairies would train and supervise outreach workers.

    Ifaturoti explained that YESSO is supported by the World Bank and targeting the extreme poor to access increased opportunity for youths and social service delivery.

    He said Osun is one of the first set of participating states in the country.