The poverty-reduction measures of the present administration are more expansive than those of previous administrations, and have potential to succeed, a policy think tank, the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has said.
The group said In a statement by its Chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, said what the administration has in place are institutionalized multi-sectoral programmes that are better suited to different categories of people in the economy.
IMPI observed that the initiatives were not one-size-fits-all programmes like those of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan which did little to address the poverty situation at the time.
“We note the historical efforts to reduce poverty by various administrations in the past, including direct interventions like the Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI) for rural areas feeder roads, rural water supply and rural electrification; National Directorate of Employment (NDE) for unemployed youths training, finance and guidance; and Better Life Programme (BLP) for rural women self-help and rural development programmes, skill acquisition and health care.
Other initiatives included the People’s Bank of Nigeria (PBN) to encourage savings and credit facilities for the underprivileged in rural and urban areas; Community Banks (CB) for micro-enterprises in urban areas, banking facilities; Family Support Programme (FSP) for health care delivery, child welfare, and youth development for families in rural areas; and Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP) for credit facilities to support the establishment of cottage industries in rural areas.
“There was also the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), which was the central pillar of the Obasanjo administration’s poverty eradication programme. Like other programmes before it, it reflected very little on pro-poor schemes, leading to poorly designed money-guzzling schemes like ‘Keke NAPEP’ which hardly contributed to reducing poverty in the long-term,” the
IMPI said.
Under the Buhari administration, the IMPI introduced a more detailed approach to fighting poverty which had since been institutionalized
“The Muhammadu Buhari administration profiled a more detailed National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in 2016 to address poverty and socio-economic inequality. Institutionalised by law in May 2023, NSIP consisted of four core programmes: The N-Power, an initiative to provide job training, education, and stipends to unemployed young Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 35; Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), a micro-lending programme that provided interest- and collateral-free loans to entrepreneurs and small business owners. It had several sub-initiatives: TraderMoni, which provided small loans to petty traders and artisan2030; a World Bank-supported vocational programme.
