Laraba MUREY
The federal government has said it will not tolerate intimidation of beneficiaries of National Social Investment Programme,NSIP by
Independent Monitors, IM while executing their duties.
Speaking at the Flag off and On-Boarding/Training of Stream 2 Batch C,3000 Independent Monitors of National Social Investment Programmes, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs Social Development Disaster, Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq,who was represented by the permanent Secretary Dr Nasir Gwarzo, said “Any Independent Monitor found intimidating or harassing a beneficiary will be taken off the programme.”
While handing the Monitors their letters of engagement and Tablets as tools for the job, Farouq said”Be informed that we have officials of the EFCC and DSS working with us on this programme, and those found culpable will be handed over to relevant authorities.”
She also informed the Monitors, that they will be getting assistance for the monitoring assignment from various state focal persons alongside Non-Governmental Organizations and Civil Society groups.
The minister stress the importance of independent Monitors on the scheme as one of the most important components of the NSIP and the Ministry lays special emphasis on ensuring its programmes are closely monitored
The minister further explained,”The NSIP Independent Monitors are responsible for monitoring the Programme in their community in schools, households, and market clusters with the focus of ensuring that the Primary Objectives of the NSIPs are achieved.”
Farouq said, “We have monitors in every Local Government where the NSIP is being implemented.
Through the Social Investment Management Information System (SIMIS) application, our Stream 1 monitors have uploaded over 220,000 reports to date on the application giving us good visibility into the programme at the communities.”
Recall “Stream 1 Independent Monitors on the 4th February 2021, in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory and 36 states of the Federation. This process led to the engagement of 4452 Stream 1”
“The NSIP was created by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 with the mandate of lifting citizens out of poverty through a number of Social Interventions which include the Job Creation Programme – NPOWER, National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCT), and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP),” She said.
