FG Launches National Policy On IDP, As 109,823 N-Power Beneficiaries Set Up Businesses

By Ignatius Ushie

The Honourable Minister Of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management And Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has said that the N-Power Batch A & B  109,823 beneficiaries have gone on to set up businesses in their communities. This was contained in the Minister’s speech at the maiden  Humanitarian Open House And the Launch Of the IDP Policy in Abuja.

According to her, “From Batch A & B 109,823 beneficiaries have gone on to set up businesses in their communities, underlining and highlighting the impact and importance of the N-Power programme. Under batch C stream 1 there are 510,000 currently enrolled and benefitting from the programme while an additional 490,000 will be enrolled following Presidential approval to increase the number to one million.

“What this means for the economy is that one million young people will in the next year be equipped with requisite skills in different fields through hands-on and on the job exposure and experience so they can be equipped to start their own businesses or secure jobs based on the experience”, adding that “it will also translate into the emergence of micro, small and medium enterprises that will contribute to the economy and provide means of livelihoods for the owners and others they will employ while contributing to a qualified and experienced workforce that can drive corporate success and economic growth.

“The Ministry recently flagged off the training of exited N Power beneficiaries known as NEXIT, a programme where exited beneficiaries are trained and CBN provides loans to enable them to start businesses so they can be employers of labour.

“In a bid to bridge the gap between the rural communities and the financial services required, the Ministry came up with the Mobile Money Agents programme. She said the programme is a nationwide effort under N-Power which trained and equipped 1,850 (50 agents per state) agents with tools such as Point of Sales (POS) Machines Fingerprint scanner, Plastic chair, Plastic table, Outdoor umbrella. Hardcover ledger for the commencement of the business”.

On the school feeding programme, she explained that,  “the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme is ongoing in 35 states and the FCT. It was introduced in 2016 to provide one free nutritious meal to children in primary 1-3 across public schools in the Nation. Presently, almost 10 million children in 54, 619 schools are benefiting from this creative programme with 120,000 cooks, about 100,000 smallholder farmers, and numerous aggregators are also benefitting the programme nationwide.

The minister explained that this administration is doing it’s best to reduce poverty and provide a safety nest for it’s citizens.

According to her, “The National Social Investment Programme is the biggest social protection and poverty eradication programme put in place by any government in Nigeria and one of the biggest in Africa. It was established by President Buhari in 2016 to address immediate and long-term socio-economic imbalances and inequalities, alleviate poverty and stimulate accelerated economic growth.