The Federal Government has disbursed more than N600 billion in cash transfers to over 10 million households across the country in the last three years as part of efforts to reduce poverty and support vulnerable Nigerians.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, disclosed this on Wednesday during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
Doro said the programme was designed to improve the living conditions of poor and vulnerable households, adding that the number of beneficiaries could represent about 40 million Nigerians, based on an average household size of four.
“We have done over N600 billion in cash transfers to be able to support vulnerable Nigerians within three years,” he said.
The minister also disclosed that the government had trained more than 18,000 people under its vocational skills programme, providing them with starter kits and stipends.
According to him, the beneficiaries also received training in business management and accounting to strengthen their capacity to manage their businesses effectively.
Doro said the government was equally supporting farmers through a separate intervention aimed at improving livelihoods and reducing poverty.
Defending the impact of the cash-transfer programme, the minister said the N25,000 paid to beneficiaries might appear small to wealthy Nigerians but could make a significant difference to the poorest households.
“N25,000 can look very small to elites, but not to the poorest of the poor,” he said.
Doro said his ministry’s responsibility was to ensure that improvements in the wider economy translated into better living conditions for ordinary Nigerians.
“My job is to translate macroeconomic gains as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. I translate the microeconomic gains to the micro level, and you can see the traction,” he said.
The minister also revealed that the government was monitoring the risk of food insecurity in northern Nigeria following projections that more than 70 million people across nine conflict-affected states could face acute food insecurity.
He, however, clarified that the figures were projections and did not mean that all those identified would necessarily experience food insecurity.
Doro added that the government had recently implemented a presidential intervention on food and nutrition across 10 northern states, assuring that the situation would continue to be monitored and necessary interventions made where necessary.
