Nigeria has spent about $984 million on the National Social Investment Programmes in the last three years.
The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Social Welfare Programme, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, said this on Tuesday in Abuja during a joint oversight visit by the Senate and House Committees on Poverty Alleviation.
The delegation was led by Senator Lawal Gumua, Chairman Senate Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Alhaji Mohammed Wudil, Chairman, House Committee on Poverty Alleviation.
Uwais said the social investment programmes, which started in 2016, to improve the living conditions of millions of Nigerians through capacity building, investment and direct support.
“So far we have over 11.5 million direct beneficiaries on all our programmes. We also have about nine million indirect beneficiaries.
“Right now, we have over 700,000 people on the National Social Register, but the people we are paying under the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme are about 300,000.
“This is because we select only the poorest of the poor in every community and every payment is done through their bank account, so we are able to track every kobo spent,’’ she said.
On the school feeding programme, Uwais said that the programme was currently feeding over 9.5 million pupils in 30 states and has empowered 101,000 cooks.
“We are feeding over 9.5 million children in about 56,000 schools around the country. The value chain in the school feeding programme is just amazing.
“Not only are the children coming back to school, we are seeing that they are more alert in class and absolutely happy to come to school.
“We are also seeing that farmers are smiling to the banks. This is because we need at least seven million eggs every week, over 600 cattle, 83 metric tonnes of fish and lots of fruits and vegetables,’’ she said.
Uwais said that through the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), the federal government was providing financial support to businesses at the bottom of the financial pyramid.
She mentioned Tradermoni, Farmermoni, and Marketmoni as the programmes being executed under GEEP.
“Tradermoni was created specifically for petty traders and artisans across Nigeria.
“With Tradermoni, you can receive interest-free loan starting from N10,000 and growing all the way to N100,000 as you pay back,’’ she said.
MM/GIK/APA