As part of the federal government’s plans to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday launched the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer for 15 million households in Abuja. The event coincided with the commemoration of this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Under the scheme aimed to cushion the effect of the petrol subsidy removal and other economic shocks, N25,000 would be transferred to each beneficiary for three months.
The President was represented at the event by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume. Other dignitaries at the event included the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Eradication, Dr. Betta Edu, Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, World Bank Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri, and the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Matthias Schmale.
According to the President, the government is “partnering with the World Bank Group and other development partners to implement conditional cash transfers, business grants and other forms of support for the most vulnerable households via the National social safety net expansion programme.” The President also stated: “My government will lead from the front in seeking to ensure that all Nigerians have opportunities decent for dignified work and sustained social protection.”
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which is celebrated annually on October 17th, aims to promote understanding and dialogue between people living in poverty and the wider society. According to the United Nations, “the 2023 theme, ‘Decent Work and Social Protection: Putting dignity in practice for all,’ draws on first-hand testimonials showing that those trapped in extreme poverty often work long, grueling hours in dangerous, unregulated conditions but still cannot earn enough income to adequately support themselves and their families.”
It also “calls for universal access to decent work and social protection as a means to uphold human dignity for all people, and to emphasise that decent work must empower people, provide fair wages and safe working conditions, and fundamentally recognise the inherent values and humanity of all workers.”
The government’s plan to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty is coming at the right time when millions of Nigerians are entering the poverty net every day. Although the programme is good and ambitious, we do not believe that giving each of the 15 million households N25,000 per month for three months will be enough to lift them out of poverty. With rising cost of food items, N75,000 cannot feed a household of four persons in a month. This amount is too paltry to empower any household in today’s Nigeria.
Moreover, the value of the naira has depreciated so much for the amount to make the much-needed impact. The government should think of other workable poverty alleviation programmes which can really lift many Nigerians out of poverty. We can emulate the Indian or Chinese example. While the provision of palliatives to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal and other economic shocks is good in the interim, government must find a sustainable strategy of eradicating poverty.
One of the best ways to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty is the massive creation of jobs. Although the government cannot create all the needed jobs, it can provide the enablers for massive job creation by providing the conducive atmosphere for businesses to thrive. The government can fund through interest-free loans the development of small and medium enterprises. In a country with over 133 million extreme poor people, lifting 15 million households with a conditional cash transfer of N25,000 per month for three months can do little or nothing to eradicate poverty.
However, the government must make sure that the cash transfer gets to the vulnerable people in the society. In the absence of an acceptable social register, the government must assure Nigerians of the integrity of the social register in use and transparency of the conditional cash transfer programme. Let the government explain the modalities for choosing the beneficiaries as well as letting Nigerians know their states and local governments of origin.
We say this because during the Buhari administration, the cash transfer programme was shrouded in secrecy. The opaqueness of the social safety programme should be done away with it. The minister in charge of this programme must avoid the pitfalls of her predecessor. Let the government also address the following factors that reinforce poverty. They include dangerous work conditions, lack of nutritious food, unequal access to justice, lack of political power and limited access to health care.
Despite our enormous human and material resources, it is sad that 63 per cent of Nigerians are still living in poverty. These Nigerians must be lifted out of poverty within achievable deadline. Persons who survive on less than $2.15 per day can be said to be in extreme poverty. No doubt, millions of Nigerians live on less than $2.15 per day now. An estimated 7 per cent of the global population, around 575 million people could still find themselves in extreme poverty by 2030.