Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government has released guidelines to strengthen the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which includes provisions for a reduction of the 24 months allotted to different batches and to enrol more women.
The government also launched an Integrated National Social Investment Programme (I-NSIP) intended to cater for vulnerable groups by providing mentorship and skills.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, stated this during an inter-ministerial session, yesterday in Abuja.
The guidelines, according to a statement released, were endorsed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, Minister of State, Budget and Planning, Clem Agba, Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Women Affairs Pauline Tallen, and Minister of State for Education Emeka Nwajiuba.
The Minister said:
‘The ministry has undertaken a review and re-appraisal of the programme in order to strengthen the program design and streamline for efficiency.
‘Part of the reforms and streamlining will see a reduction in tenure from the current 24 months, the launch of the Integrated National Social Investment Programme (I-NSIP), which is intended to reposition N-SIP to cater to vulnerable groups in society by providing them access to shock responsive interventions, life skills and mentorship in order to systematically lift people out of poverty.
‘Others include enrolling more women on the program to empower them, so that they can earn an income and be more self-sufficient while privileging N-Teach, N-Health and N-Agro as areas of key priority attention.’
She said attention would be paid more in helping ‘our youth convert knowledge into skills while providing opportunities for them to digitalise and organise markets and to achieve this they all agreed that emphasis should not be on starting new structures but building on existing ones – from the National Directorate of Employment to Digital Literacy and Skills Acquisition programme (DEEL) as well as the Work Experience Programme (WEP) of the Ministry of Youth & Sports Development.
‘They resolved that the core emphasis of the National Social Investment Programmes must be on the youths who account for 70 million of the Nigerian population even as youth unemployment stands at over 20% with 4.5 million entering the job market annually.
‘The ministers proposed the convening of a technical working group that will help to synergize and operationalize the inter-ministerial efforts,” she added.