From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated National Steering Committee (NSC) of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) to be chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
At the inauguration, the President reiterated his commitment to lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years with a well-researched framework for implementation and funding.
The president, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said NPRGS had already proposed the establishment of a private equity fund, the Nigeria Investment and Growth Fund (NIG-Fund), to lead resource mobilisation drive and also manage the resources in a sustainable manner. He said the responsibilities on the committee were enormous, but expressed confidence that the committee would be able to lay the foundation and demonstrate, within the next two years, the practicality of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
“This journey began in January, 2021 when I directed the Chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and Secretary to the Government of the Federation to collaboratively work together to articulate what that will lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. I am happy to note that the process of designing this inclusive poverty reduction strategy, has recognised and addressed past mistakes as well as laying the foundation for a sustainable poverty reduction through the wide range consultations held at all levels of government, development partners, the private sector as well as the civil society.’’
The president said the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy would address underlying causes of poverty on the basis of which it developed programmes that would deal with the multi-dimensional nature of poverty within the practical context of comparative advantage of human and natural resources in the various geo-political zones.
“The major challenge before this national steering committee is to translate our good intention into positive impact of the average Nigerian so that we create an appreciative impact on the poverty situation in our country. If India can lift 271 million people out of poverty between 2006 and 2016, Nigeria can surely lift 100million out of poverty in 10 years. Fortunately, we have already started, but we need to unlock the challenges of slow implementation, inappropriate targeting and absence of adequate resources.”
Vice President Osinbajo said the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy would consolidate other efforts of the government to reduce poverty which include N-Power, school feeding and conditional cash transfer.
