Poverty Archives — Business Bells

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Tag: Poverty

  • FG Has Lifted 10 Million Nigerians Out of Poverty in 6 Years —Minister

    FG Has Lifted 10 Million Nigerians Out of Poverty in 6 Years —Minister

     

    The Federal Government said it has lifted over 10 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty in six years, through the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs).

     

    Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, disclosed this yesterday at a virtual launch of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey.

     

     

    Umar Farouq explained that Nigeria has joined many countries that have moved towards improving the efficiency of their decision-making processes through the evidence generated by MPI.

     

    In a statement by her Special Adviser on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, she said: “The consensus around the use of the MPI emerges from different approaches and global agreements, including the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs), which has been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to cover the multiple aspects of deprivation at the core of poverty and their inter-linkages.

     

    “It is therefore an honour to join other strong voices to highlight the importance of multi-stakeholder engagements on poverty eradication, zero hunger, quality education, climate action and inclusion, all of which are central to the evidence generated by the MPI.

     

    “The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has successfully empowered more than 10 million people out of extreme poverty through the many initiatives of Government, including the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), GEEP, Npower, NHGSFP and many more.

     

    “This aspiration takes into cognizance the country’s current estimated population of about 200 million people, as well as the need for better evidence for programming.

     

    “The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development therefore, stands ready to collaborate with different government agencies, donor organisations and private investors to shape policies and drive real impact in the use of MPI data to foster government accountability to citizens through improved multi-sectoral interventions targeted at the root of deprivations.

     

    “In addition, the ministry will collaborate closely with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to conduct regular multidimensional poverty measurements alongside monetary measures at both national and sub-national levels to ascertain the true poverty status of Nigeria and use the findings to shape policy and programming.”

     

    Umar Farouq noted that government would partner with private sector actors using the special purpose vehicle of social investments to create a national and state poverty map/tracker which will help provide progress towards poverty reduction goals.

     

    “It will also collaborate with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning using MPI data to improve budget allocations by sector and State in order to target individuals, communities and areas needing dire attention,” she added.

     

    She thanked the World Bank Group, UNDP, OPHI, UNICEF, the High Commission of Canada, and other bilateral and multi-lateral bodies, for their support towards eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.

     

  • How 100m Nigerians Will Be Lifted Out of Poverty – Osinbajo

    How 100m Nigerians Will Be Lifted Out of Poverty – Osinbajo

     

    • Inaugurates National Steering Committee on Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy

     

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has explained that the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration plans to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years will not be based on a business as usual approach, but a very simple, common sense strategy that will deliver the results as promised.

     

    According to a statement by Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, the Vice President stated this in Abuja on Friday at the inaugural meeting of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy Steering Committee held at the Presidential Villa.

     

    He expressed confidence that the Committee will be able to achieve rapid progress, adding that “in order not to make this merely, another of those high-sounding committees that eventually achieve nothing, we have to be very intentional about our objectives and how to achieve them.”

     

    He said to members of the committee, that government would adopt a different and more effective approach in actualizing the objective of eradicating poverty in the country for the sake of delivering results.

     

    According to him, “I really want us to approach this as much as possible, commonsensically, so that we are able to resolve all the issues and focus on the real progress.

     

    “I want us to look beyond all of what we are going to be doing, there is going to be a considerable amount of paper work, but a lot of common sense is what grows economies. It’s what other countries have done, not really reinventing the wheel. So, I want us to focus on those commonsensical things, so that we can actually move forward.”

     

    Citing the example of Bangladesh where a poverty reduction strategy was also implemented, Osinbajo noted how the country’s manufacturing sector was key.

     

    “Bangladesh actually exports more garment than we export oil. Countries that have managed to get out of poverty have created a lot of jobs through industries, and they have developed intentional strategies.

     

    “We must look at what others have done, the smart things that other people have done, and adopt.”

     

    On agriculture, he said: “We really have to think smartly about how we are funding agriculture.

     

    “I think we really need to take a deep dive because governments have made several efforts at poverty alleviation but generally speaking, they have not yielded the sort of results they should yield, and I think it’s because there is a lot of focus on documentation and paper work and very little commonsense approaches,” the VP added.

     

    Osinbajo explained that National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy is meant to be a national strategy, not just a federal effort and it is aimed at taking 100 million people, nationally, out of poverty within a target time-frame of 10 years.

     

    His words: “I just want to emphasize that it is a national strategy as opposed to a federal strategy which is why the steering committee is made up of federal as well as state officials.”

     

    While also emphasizing the role of the private sector, the VP said “essentially, this effort must also be directed at how to facilitate private sector creation of jobs. The fact is that there is no way that the Federal Government or the State Governments can create the number of jobs that we need.

     

    “We need to take a few broad looks at the features of what constitutes our present predicaments in terms of job losses and unemployment.”

     

    Osinbajo added that efforts will be made to focus attention on creating opportunities for Nigerians to earn decent livelihoods in addition to equipping them with the necessary vocational skills.

     

    Those in attendance included Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who is also Nigeria Governors Forum Chairman, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State and Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.

     

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Ministers of Agriculture, Muhammad Nanono; Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, and Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige also attended, while the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba joined the meeting virtually.

     

    Later at the end of the inaugural meeting, and while fielding questions from journalists, Governor Sule of Nasarawa State said “the whole essence of the committee is for the government to be able to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.”

     

    He said that having reviewed the Terms of Reference (TOR), the Steering Committee is now constituting the technical working group and the National Social Protection Network and then resume its meeting after the Sallah break.