The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, has declared that her ministry is primed to ‘go all out to deliver’ on the administration’s targets of job creation, facilitating food security, eradicating poverty and providing good governance, among other deliverables.
Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the three-day Ministerial Retreat for Ministers and Special Advisers as well as Assistants and Aides in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday, Edu said her ministry was on the right trajectory to improving things in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
She said that her ministry was collaborating with the Ministries of Finance, Health, Education and Agriculture, among others, to see that the administration pulls Nigerians out of the prevailing multi-dimensional poverty in the country.
“Remember, it’s multidimensional poverty. Some people are poor, because they do not have access to education. Some people are poor because they do not have access to quality healthcare services. Some people are poor because they do not have access to jobs,” she said.
The Minister, however, urged the citizens to exercise a little patience as the authorities push to see that the Renewed Hope Agenda becomes a reality.
“We ask for a little patience from Nigerians, cooperation and an understanding of government and government policies. We would be sincere; we would be accountable.
“For us in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, we are actually given a huge task, and that task is to go all out and ensure that we meet the deliverables and mandates of the government.
“We’ve spelt out our deliverables clearly. And we’re signing on to the bond. And the entire team of the ministry and its agencies, which it supervises, would be on the road to ensure that we deliver and achieve success.
“It’s not going to be an easy task. Mr. President is an A-class president who has a very high charge on what he wants to achieve for Nigerians. Hopes are high. And he will not fail. We will not fail. Nigeria as a country will not fail,” she noted.
Edu disclosed a number of specific areas the President has tasked the ministry to actualise the removal of 50 million Nigerians from the poverty rung and cushion the economic shock faced by many households.
These areas, the minister said, include the ongoing payment of N25,000 to poor households in the country.
She added: “This is going to happen for three months, amounting to N75,000. Now, this is an immediate cushioning of the economic shock that these households are experiencing.
“However, we’re taking our time going through the rigorous process. And the reason is simple – we want to be sure that the right people get the money. We want to identify them; they have their NINs; they have their BVNs. We don’t want to rush into paying people and then you realise that they don’t even exist.
“That’s why we went through the process of verification and payments have started. Different states across the country can attest to this and individual poor households as well. And this we will make public so that Nigerians can hold us accountable. These are 15 million households, which automatically amount to about 61 million persons.
“Beyond this, the President is going to be creating jobs for millions of Nigerians through different methods. We’re providing zero-interest loans for markets, petty traders, market women, amongst other people. We’re also supporting poor farmers. We’re bringing on board the End Hunger Project; we’re equally bringing on board the Good Nigeria Project, and several other projects. Each of these projects has the targeted amount of persons we want to reach through our social safety net projects.”
