The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, has revealed how the N5,000 monthly National Cash Transfer has elevated millions of vulnerable Nigerians and their households,
She revealed this on Thursday, during a briefing with State House Reporters, in reaction to the relevance of the Initiative to the President Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government’s plan to pull out 100 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty.
She said: “If you look at the people that you are taking this intervention to, N5,000 means a lot to them, because these are poor and vulnerable households, and it changes their status, but for you and me, N5,000 is not even enough for us to buy recharge card, that is the difference.
“But for these poor people in the communities, you have seen, they were able to save out of that N5,000.
“When people say N5,000 does not save people, that is an elitist statement, honestly because we have had causes to go to the field, and we have seen these people that when you give them this N5,000, they cried and shed tears, because they have never seen N5,000 in their lives. So, it goes a long way, it changes their status and by that, it lifts them from one stage to another.”
While noting that there are now 46 million Nigerians on the National Social Register, she stated that she believes that the Conditional N5,000 intervention strategy to the poor and vulnerable has indeed assisted in lifting more Nigerians out of poverty.
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