The Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, Hajiya Halima Shehu, has disclosed the agency’s commitment to poverty alleviation in Nigeria.
The agency, signed into law in May 2023 under the renewed agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, aims to assist and empower vulnerable Nigerians, including those with disabilities and senior citizens.
The agency has implemented various programs to achieve its goals, including the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Program (GEEP), which includes Trader Money, Farmer Money, and Market Money. Additionally, the National Homegrown School Feeding Program aims to provide meals to primary 1 to 3 pupils in public schools.
The Conditional Cash Transfer Program targets the poorest in the country, while the Unconditional Cash Transfer Program provides grants to vulnerable groups, particularly individuals with disabilities and senior citizens. There is also an Alternate School Program that focuses on out-of-school and at-risk children.
The agency, in partnership with national and international development partners, works to coordinate and harmonize social intervention programs in Nigeria, with the aim of improving the standard of living for those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid.
Since assuming office, the agency has successfully initiated the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, providing a monthly stipend of 25,000 Naira for three months to 15 million households. In addition, the grant for vulnerable groups has been launched, providing a one-time grant of N20,000 to individuals with disabilities, senior citizens, and others.
These grants aim to support consumption and mitigate the impact of the federal subsidy removal.
The National Homegrown School Feeding Program will resume as soon as schools reopen and will include an expansion to provide meals to out-of-school children. These children will also be enrolled in skill development and cash grant programs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
The agency is dedicated to impacting the lives of millions of poor and vulnerable Nigerians and aims to be the human face of the administration. They remain committed to their fight against poverty and hope to exceed the expectations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Nigerian people.
During the press conference, the CEO also addressed concerns about the quality of food provided through the National Homegrown School Feeding Program.
She explained that each child is allocated 70 Naira per day, but due to economic constraints, it has been challenging to provide a fully balanced meal, including items like yogurt, biscuits, eggs, and bread. The agency is actively exploring options to increase funding to improve the quality of meals provided to the children.
Regarding the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, it was clarified that the program is fully funded by the World Bank. Beneficiaries are selected from the National Social Register, which is compiled from state social registers across the country. The selection process is independent and not influenced by any political figures.
She said, “It’s a fully funded project by World Bank. We’re working with $800 million, the World Bank funds.
“About the beneficiaries and how they are sourced, there is a National Social Register, it’s a collection of State social registers; all the 36 States and the FCT are participants. So, a collection of 36 States and FCT Social Register makes up the National Social Register.
“Most people in the National Social Register are either rural poor, or urban poor. So, the office that is charged with the delivery of this cash, which is the National Cash Transfer Office mines the beneficiaries out of the Social Register.
“Most of the people in the National Social Register are not known to any political person. They are Nigerians that deserve to benefit from the grant and that is why no list is being collected by anybody,” she noted.
According to her, “Both the Rapid Response Register and the National Social Register cannot be influenced by any other person outside the key people who have structured the programme and who are supervising the programmes, which is the World Bank.”
Hajia Shehu who assured that the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme has been fully digitized, affirmed that the scheme is being implemented across the country, adding that everybody on the Social Register has a bank account and that plans are underway to allocate National Identity Number (NIN) to all the beneficiaries as part of measures to “strengthen the transparency and accountability process.”
“The Agency has been saddled with the responsibility to assist, empower, uplift numerous Nigerians out of poverty by assisting and empowering and restoring the livelihood of poor and vulnerable Nigerians. We are far from any kind of danger ahead of us.
“The poverty alleviation programmes under the Agency are: Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme known as GEEP, which has components of TraderMoni, FarmerMoni, and MarketMoni, and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, which is aimed at feeding Primary 1to 3 Pupils in public school.
“The Conditional Cash Transfer Programme which targets the poorest of the poor in the country. And the unconditional Cash Transfer Programme which is known as the Grant for Vulnerable Groups, it targets mostly the physically challenged and Senior Citizens, amongst others.
“There is an Alternate School Programme that target out-of-school and at risk children. The Agency’s activities are designed to harmonize, synergize, institutionalize, as well as provide coordination on the social intervention programmes in Nigeria, through partnership with both national and international Development Partners. Through harmonization, we’ll be able to fast track economic development and improve the standard of living of those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid in Nigeria.
“Upon resumption of office two months ago, my team and I have been working around the clock to ensure that we do not leave any stone unturned in our fight against poverty, as directed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Under my watch, we have successfully kick-started the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme funded by World Bank with a N25,000 monthly stipend for three months and we are targeting 15 million households.
“Beneficiaries so far have been benefiting from this grant to the tune of 1.5 million. We have also flagged-off the grant for Vulnerable Groups, which is a N20,000 one-off grant that targets a high percentage of Persons Living with Disabilities, Senior Citizens, amongst others. Both grants are targeted as smoothening consumption and cushioning the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.”
“This employment scheme under the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ will assist the at risk children and out-of-school children to earn a means of livelihood,” the NSIPA Accounting Officer noted.
While speaking on the N-Power programme under the current dispensation, Hajia Shehu disclosed that “Government is working towards an exit strategy for the existing N-Power beneficiaries. And as soon as that is done, a portal will be opened for the enrollment of Batch D beneficiaries of N-Power on different components, which are the N-Skills, N-Outgrow, N-Tech, N-Creative, N-Build, amongst others.
“There is no doubt that the National Social Investment Programme Agency is saddled with the responsibility to impact on the lives of millions of poor and vulnerable Nigerians, which makes the Agency to stand out as the human face of this administration. And we are committed, we are very much aware of the responsibilities and the tasks ahead of us. We remain committed in our fight against poverty, and we hope to surpass Mr. President expectations and Nigerians at large,” she stressed.
