Federal Government To Pay 24 Million Poor Nigerians N5,000 Each For Six Month
The Federal Government on Tuesday said about 24.3 million poor Nigerians will get N5,000 each for a period of six months.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Crisis Management and Social Progress, Sadiya Farouq, disclosed this at the inauguration of the Federal Government’s emergency intervention database for the urban poor.
The intervention will act as a buffer for those further impoverished by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement released in Abuja by her aide, Nneka Anibeze.
The statement read in part, “According to records, at the end of 2020, around 24.3 million poor and vulnerable people were identified and registered with the National Social Register.”
“For a period of six months, each beneficiary will receive N5,000.”
In order to improve the capacity for rapid response to any emergency, whether natural or man-made disasters, Farouq said the intervention database was important.
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The minister said the Rapid Response Register was designed to rapidly identify, register and provide succour to people who were not previously captured in the social register.
Speaking on the RRR, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said the register deployed a wholly technology-based approach, adding that it was primed to achieve an end-to-end digital foot-print in cash transfers for the urban poor.
This, he said, would also help the government to achieve its financial inclusion policy under the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access programme.
He said, “The groundbreaking success of the RRR now emboldens us to achieve our aspiration of a social security programme for a minimum of 20 million Nigerians in the next two years. This will be the largest of its kind on the continent.”
Osinbajo also hinted that the Federal Government would seek funding for the intervention programmes as the country deserved a social security scheme that would not only alleviate poverty but also create wealth for millions of those waiting for the opportunity.
