The essence of social investment programme

Abdullahi M. Gulloma

The Nigerian government said that it has spent N41, 714,793,293 billion across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on implementation of its four Social Investment Programmes (SIPs).

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said thaspect of the programme known as the N-Power, initiated to cater for unemployed graduates, was allocated the sum of N26.418bn while the Home Grown School Feeding (HGSFP), Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and Government Enterprises Entrepreneurship Programme (GEEP) received N7.092bn, N800m and N7.301bn, respectively.
The statement that said under the N-Power job scheme, which is operational in 36 states and the FCT, 162,024 unemployed graduates have been enrolled and they are receiving the N30,000 monthly stipends. This figure was cut short from the 200,000 originally engaged  late last year, the statement added.

It said that under the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme, 26,942 beneficiaries are getting, monthly, N5,000 stipend in nine states (Borno, Cross River, Niger, Kwara, Ekiti, Kogi, Oyo, Osun and Bauchi) and 84 local government areas.
The statement said that the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) designed for the empowerment of market women, traders and artisans has also recorded progress with the disbursement of 57,234 interest free loans.

The statement disclosed that no less than 25 million meals have been served under the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme, stressing that the Presidency is now implementing a huge ramp up of the Social Investment Programmes, as directed by acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
A breakdown of the total number of meals served shows that 1,051,619 million primary school pupils are now being fed across seven states – Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Ogun, Osun, Oyo and Zamfara.

“No less than 11,847 cooks have also been employed. Altogether 8,587 schools are involved in those states,” the statement said. “Indeed, possibly, later in the week, more meals will be served as Delta and Abia states are now ready to be paid under the federal government school feeding scheme.
“Specifically, Delta State is expected to receive, soon, a sum of N63, 366,100 to start the feeding of 90, 523 primary school pupils. In the same vein, Abia State is also expected to receive N42, 921, 200.”
Essentially, the government’s social investment programme intends to lift many Nigerians out of poverty and other forms of social problems. It is said that close to 110 million people are poor and with about 30 million living in extreme poverty situation.
There is no doubt that the current economic situation in the country has left many Nigerians exposed to the vagaries of economic difficulties.

It is, therefore, thoughtful on the part of the Buhari-led administration to initiate a programme to ameliorate hardship faced by the most vulnerable, poor and unemployed people.
Thus, however, one looks at the social investment programmeof the Buhari-led administration, the challenges are enormous, even though the prospects and benefits are, indeed, commendable.
In fact, as Osinbajo once observed, the country has a huge problem on its hands, yet it must try not to just empower people for the political glory of the initiative.

The government must ensure that what the people are given is not only sustainable and reasonable but the entire gamut of the social investment programme is implemented with sincerity of purpose and sustained beyond the life of the present administration.
For too long, and regrettably so, many good programmes of previous governments were either destroyed by lack of good intention to implement them, selfishness and or corruption on the part of those charged with the responsibility for their  implementation.
For now, it appears that the current administration has not only learnt from the lessons of the past but it has also formulated a clear-cut and multi-dimensional social programme aimed at addressing poverty and other forms of social malaise in the country. The administration, significantly, has left no one in doubt of its desire and focus to empower poor Nigerians and provide employment for our teeming unemployed youth.

Yet, this goal of the administration can only come to fruition through provision of a purposeful leadership, which the country is now lucky to have, and elimination of corruption which was taken to an unimaginable level before the advent of the Buhari-led administration.
It is needless to stress that the identification of corruption as the bane of the country’s development by this administration and the decision to tackle it frontally will enable government save resources and channel same to crucial areas of need and, particularly, help in alleviation of poverty.

Osinbajo once observed, the country has a huge problem on its hands, yet it must try not to just empower people for the political glory of the initiative. The government must ensure that what the people are given is not only sustainable and reasonable but the entire gamut of the social investment programme is implemented with sincerity of purpose and sustained beyond the life of the present administration

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