President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday launched conditional cash transfer for 15 million vulnerable Nigerian households in a bid to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.
Recall that Tinubu had in his October 1 Independence Day broadcast said the government will implement the conditional cash transfer targeted at 15 million households across the country who will receive N75, 000 for a period of three months.
Christened ‘Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer’ the event, which coincided with the World Poverty Eradication Day, was held at the Press Gallery of the State House in Abuja.
Speaking at the unveiling of the programme, the president who was represented by the secretary to the government of the federation, Mr George Akume said the government had embarked on reforms, noting that they may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require.
Nevertheless, he said his administration was committed to tackling poverty in the country.
“My government will lead from the front in seeking to ensure that all Nigerians have opportunities for dignified work and sustained social protection,” he said.
Also speaking, the minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty eradication, Dr. Betta Edu said adequate verification process had been carried out to ensure the funds get to the deserving beneficiaries.
The process, according to her, includes getting their NIN, BVN and ensuring their location is correct.
“Our President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has resolved that Nigerians would have both immediate short-term, medium-term or long-term interventions to cushion not just the effect of force subsidy or any economic shock but to ensure that we can pull Nigerians out of poverty while preventing mitigating against the humanitarian crisis that has led lots of Nigerians into being displaced or living below the poverty line,” she said
The minister also disclosed that in no distant time, another scheme christened ‘Iya Loja Funds’ would be launched.
She said the fund would provide soft loans of N50, 000 to support petty traders.
She added that at the beginning of the next farming season, farmers would be provided with incentives to boost their farm yields.
For his part, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Mr. Wale Edun said the rate of poverty in the country was unacceptable to the government.
He said the reducing poverty remains the president’s number one priority.
Edun further said a biometric auditing system would be put in place to ensure efficiency and accountability in the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries.
Also speaking, the representative of the World Bank in Nigeria, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri said programmes such as the conditional cash transfer have proved to be one of the most potent ways to assist vulnerable citizens against economic shocks.
“This aid is crucial in helping them overcome the initial period during which they might otherwise be compelled to make decisions with long-term consequences. For instance, these decisions might include reducing daily meals to just one or withdrawing their children from school.
“The type of cash transfer referred to as ‘shock-responsive cash transfer’ that is currently being implemented is utilized by countries worldwide to offer temporary relief in such situations,” he said.
