Tobias Sylvester
President Muhammadu Buhari has increased the number beneficiaries of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) in other to accommodate more people.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, disclosed this during a briefing to give account of her ministry in the last one year on Monday in Abuja.
According to her, the President directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to increase the number of N-Power beneficiaries from 500,000 to 1,000,000.
He also directed an increase in the beneficiaries of Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) by 1,000,000 as well as beneficiaries of the Home-Grown School Feeding by 5,000,000.
“In order to double the scope of the National Social Investment Programmes, Mr. President has graciously approved the expansion of all NSIP programmes, such as increase of N-Power beneficiaries from 500,000 to 1,000,000, increase of GEEP beneficiaries by 1,000,000 and increase of beneficiaries of Home-Grown School Feeding by 5,000,000,” the minister disclosed.
“In championing social inclusion, deliberate efforts were made to capture vulnerable youth and groups which included women, people with special needs, in the expansion of the National Social Register by one million households. Also, in the Economic Sustainability Plan, we have over 1,000,000 urban poor in the National Social Register.
“As of June 2020, 4.41% of the total number of individuals captured in the National Social Register are recognised as Persons with Special Needs. This comes to a total of six hundred and eighty-five thousand and ninety (685,090) Persons with Special Needs in the National Social Register.”
The Minister said about 3.7 million households comprising of more than 15.5 million individuals have been captured on the National Social Register.
“About 3.7 million households comprising more than 15.5 million individuals have been captured on the National Social Register. Of that number, over 2.8 million of the households which comprise 13.5 million Individuals are eligible for Conditional Cash Transfer. These numbers are spread across the 36 states and FCT. The numbers are further broken down to 7.6 million males and 7.9 million females.”
She said the ministry has developed a strategy for targeting the urban poor in line with President Buhari’s directive to expand the National Social Register.
Sadiya Farouq said the increase in the number of beneficiaries was in line with the plans of President Buhari to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years.
Meanwhile, KanyiDaily had reported that beneficiaries of ‘Trader Moni‘ have refused to pay back the loans given to them by the Federal Government, insisting that it is their own share of ‘national cake’.
