…Says FG’s Social Safety Net To 15m Households Not Give-Away
By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, has said that the ongoing humanitarian assistance across vulnerable groups in the country will no longer be business as usual, as the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is poised to end dublication of efforts and bring about durable solutions to the poorest of the poor in the society.
To this end, the minister said that the Federal Government is set to cover 15 million households under its upscaled social safety net project, aimed at teaching them how to fish and not to hand them fish to eat.
Edu, disclosed this during an official visit to Maiduguri on Thursday, where she visited Muna Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, camp, Bulumkutu Rehabilitation Centre, tbe Shehu of Borno’s palace, Government House, Maiduguri among other places; and interfaced with people affected by the over decade-long Boko Haram crisis. She also met repentant Boko Haram members and their wives, as well as some rescued Chibok school girls and their children.
She said that she the social safety net fund to be provided “is not a give away money as usual.”
She enthused, “We’ll begin an expanded upscale social safety net program, which will be reaching out to at least 15 million households in Nigeria.
“We are putting conditions to it, these are funds to start up businesses, these are funds that put you back on track, so it is not government give-aways as usual.”
Edu warned that “for any money given by the government to anybody, there must be criterias attached to it; and you will be held accountable for what you use government money to do.”
Noting that her ministry would work with the Borno State government on the expansion of the social register to accommodate more persons, the Humanitarian Minister said, “Presently, we have 15.7 million households on the social register, and we have about 62 million individuals on the social register. But, this is completely inadequate, compared to the number of persons that require intervention from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.”
She explained that the register would be updated through immediate verification of people on the register to know whether they deserve it or not.
Continuing, Edu said, “Because, it’s not a permanent register, but a dynamic one. There are people coming and people going out, so whoever left should leave the register. And, if you are coming in we should truly know that you deserve to be part of the register by the criteria.”
The minister gave the assurance that if the verification happens within the next one month, the expanded upscale social safety net program would commence immediately.
She noted that the goal of President Tinubu’s administration is to ensure they resettle back persons who have been internally displaced, and refugees that have been coming in from both Cameroon, Chad, Niger and other persons of concerns.
She added, “So, it’s not just about resettling them, or offering them humanitarian services or responding when we have a humanitarian crisis.
“The issue is, how can we prevent these humanitarian crises from happening? How can we work with the security agencies, how can we work with the communities to prevent this crisis from happening?
“Beyond this, we want to be able to provide a more resilient system that is reliable and the interventions are sustainable, so it is not about going to offer a cup or bag of rice, No.”
Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Borno State Government House, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum assured of the state government’s commitment to partner with the ministry for the repatriation of refugees from neighboring countries of Cameroun, Niger and Chad.
At the Shehu of Borno’s palace, Alhaji Abubakar Garbai Elkanemi, the royal father promised to mobilize all his traditional rulers and title holders under his emirate and the state at large to join the implementation of the ministry mission, pointing out that, there is no how any such policy or projects be successfully implemented without the support of the traditional council, who are the custodians of the people in the society as community leaders.
The Shehu prayed for the minister and the ministry as well as the Federal Government for a successful and peaceful governance and services to the people, especially the poor and the less privileged in the society.
At the Bulumkutu Rehabilitation Centre, which hosted quite a number of repentant Boko Haram members, including some rescued Chibok school girls, Edu interacted freely with the victims and shared food and non food items to cushion their economic hardship.
