Humanitarian minister calls for massive support of over 8m destitute people in N/E
The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, has shouted out for urgent intervention in the looming poverty in some north east states, saying that the population of affected victims of humanitarian crises has reached 8.3 million in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa alone.
The minister maintained that the figure is part of the available statistics of 16 million Nigerians affected by either natural or man-made disasters, or both.
She stated this in a statement signed by her Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rasheed Zubair, today, September 3, 2023, in Abuja.
According to her, the highest number of affected victims were recorded in the aforementioned states in the north east, indicating the need for immediate support.
She added the crises are also higher in some other regions, with Benue, at the top of the list, tagged as the centre of humanitarian crises in Nigeria by the United Nations.
Mrs Edu stated that the ministry will ensure that the affected persons are brought back to their social safety conditions, as the federal government is always ready to support them in achieving their goal.
“In a couple of weeks, we will be fully launching into these plans to take over 136 million Nigerians out of poverty as implementation has started to help cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.”
“We will be working with the World Bank while seeking approval from the President to begin the Conditional Cash Transfer to Nigerians,” the minister stated.
She promised to enhance the social safety for Nigerian citizens through transparent social register to disparity challenge.
“We want to increase the Social Safety Net for Nigerians in a transparent manner by counting the numbers together just as we counted COVID-19 cases using a digitalised system.
”Ministry would soon come up with a more acceptable Social Register, one that will be verified, validated.
“It will also be expanded to include those who should be there while taking off those who no longer belong within that bracket.
”We will also work with all tiers of government as well as various communities to identify persons eligible for the scheme.” Edu said.
(NAN)
