Minister Frowns at Sharing Money to Poor Nigerians, Seeks Investment in People

By Dipo Olowookere

The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, as part of its determination to reduce poverty in the country, started a social investment programme, which gives at least N5,000 to extremely poor Nigerians every month.

Though this scheme has been criticized by some citizens as well as the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), those in government have maintained that it has helped to meet the needs of its targets.

After his inauguration for a second term in office, Mr Buhari said government was working to lift at least 100 Nigerians from poverty in the next 10 years.

Nigeria is regarded as the poverty capital of world, with over 60 million of its nearly 200 million citizens living in extreme poverty, ahead of India, which used to occupy the position.

While President Buhari is of the view that government can begin to address poverty with the sharing of N5,000 monthly stipend to poor Nigerians, Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, feels otherwise.

Speaking at a function in Abuja on Tuesday, Mrs Ahmed said investment in people is the best way to tackle poverty head-on, not by giving money to them.

“We must move beyond merely donating money to people to investing in people and their communities,” the Minister said during her address at the Nexus II Summit taking place today and tomorrow at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

According to her, “The vision for Nigeria, as outlined by President Buhari at the beginning of this government, is to lift 100 million people out of poverty within the next 10-year period. We can only do this through investment and financing for development.”

Speaking further at the summit, the Minister commended the Bank of Industry (BoI) for moving from the handout model to the hand up, and for investing in people and in conflict afflicted societies.

She said, “By doing so, they have not only begun kickstarting economies in conflict afflicted areas but also taking the first step to lifting these communities away from dependence and towards dignity and self-sustainability. This catalytic action will no doubt have a significant ripple effect through our financial sector.”

Mrs Ahmed tasked stakeholders that, “This is no time for pilot programmes but as we move from reaching thousands of people to millions, we can only achieve this jointly by going to scale.”

“In this spirit I encourage the banking sector to take this initiative a step further, by crowding in financing and leveraging upon these initiatives to achieve results,” she added.

The Minister expressed confidence that “this summit is not just another meeting but is a call to action on the part of all stakeholders, this is a government committed to reform, and in this area the government is already taking strides to improve coordination in all areas, additionally we are committed to supporting investment in human capital development and entrepreneurship activity particularly in conflict and crisis affected areas of our country.

“We are also committed to ensuring that the life of every citizen is positively impacted wherever they are across the nation. Today that step begins here as you deliberate on the actions needed to build resilient communities not just in areas affected by conflict and crisis but indeed across Nigeria.”