By Ebi Kesiena
About 200,000 beneficiaries of the National Social Investment Programme thronged the Lafia Township Square over the weekend to appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR for lifting most poor and vulnerable persons out of poverty in Nasarawa state.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq while also thanking President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR at a rally in Lafia, explained that the total number of beneficiaries of N-Power, Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer and the National Home Grown School Feeding has helped the administration to wade out of recession.
In a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, Farouq stated that the National Social Investment Programme is unprecedented in the history of Nigerian government adding that the programme has helped to alleviate abject poverty in the country.
“I stand here on behalf of the poor and vulnerable in this country who are mostly the beneficiaries of our National Social Investment Programmes to appreciate you.
“Your Excellency, under the National Social Investment Programme, we have four clusters, the N-Power Programme, the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme which gives 2 million households N5,000 monthly. We give N30,000 monthly to our N-Power youths and so far we have 1.5 million of them. We have also been able to target small and medium entrepreneurs and we give them surplus collateral free and interest free loans from N50,000 to N300,000 for them to start their businesses.
“Under the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, we also feed Primary 1 to 3 school pupils on school days. We have close to 10 million of these pupils. Your excellency, these are some of the parents of these pupils we feed daily. These are some of the people who receive N5,000 monthly. These are some of those who receive N30,000 monthly to teach their children and contribute to the GDP and development of this country.
“Your Excellency, it is no wonder that when we went into recession, immediately we came out of recession.”Farouq stated.
