The federal government has disclosed its intention to launch the National Social Protection Policy (NSPP) to provide a mix of policies and programs designed to reduce poverty and promote livelihood of Nigerians.
Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning, in a statement signed by James Akpadem, S.A media to the minister on Tuesday, said that the determination of present administration to continue its work to substantially reduce poverty among Nigerians and see how the lessons from implementing government’s social protection programs can be applied to further improve the lives of the poor and vulnerable.
He said “The policy was drawn from the recommendations of the 2016 Summit which was focused on “Evidence and Learning in Improving Social Protection in Nigeria”, to cater for the vulnerable citizens of this country from cradle to grave. Our poverty alleviation initiatives are making some impacts; and government is determined to continue to do more to substantially reduce poverty among its citizens”.
Udoma speaking at an International Social Protection Cross- learning Summit titled “Improving the Lives of Poor and Vulnerable Nigerians: Lessons from Implementing Social Protection in Nigeria”, held in Abuja, said that the policy has 16 measures aimed at addressing the challenges of human development as it aims to provide a mix of policies and programs designed for individuals and households to reduce poverty and socio-economic shocks, promote and enhance livelihood and life of dignity among Nigerians.
According to him, the implementation of the Federal Government poverty alleviation initiatives programs has made Nigerians, particularly the poor and vulnerable, to feel directly the impact of governance; recalling that just last Sunday at an event organized by the Ministry of Information, which he attended, beneficiaries of some of the social investment programs gave very moving testimonies of how their lives have been impacted by the programs.
“Listening to these testimonies brought home to me the importance of the work we are doing and how real lives are transformed by these interventions. This work is important, and we must all work hard to do more. Step by step we are helping to reduce poverty and ameliorate the plight of the poorest of our citizens”, he added.
He explained that the objective of the summit is to deepen stakeholders’ awareness and understanding of the benefits of continuing investments in social protection related programs in Nigeria. “It will also provide the opportunity for Nigeria to review the implementation of various social protection programs put in place by this Administration since we assumed office three and half years ago,” he added.
The Minister pointed out that the issue of social protection is a core component of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) which was introduced in 2017. “The Plan has three broad objectives, namely: Restoring Growth, Investing in our People, and Building a Globally Competitive Economy. We are committed to the implementation of the ERGP. Social protection is part of our program of ‘investing in our people’, one of the three broad objectives of the Plan.”
He stated that “as a demonstration of that commitment we have, since 2016, consistently set aside a provision of N500 billion in our annual budgets to address issues of social protection. This is unprecedented in the history of our country. In addition, the total capital budget for social development programs across MDAs (Health, Education, Labour and Employment, Youth and Sports) experienced a quantum leap from N48.17 billion in 2015 to N214.48 billion in 2018.”
Cynthia Egboboh, Abuja.
