Sadiya Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has stated that many Nigerians have been lifted from poverty as beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s (FG) N5,000 monthly national conditional cash transfer.
Speaking at the weekly ministerial media briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Farouq dismissed claims that the initiative is not effective, saying the N5,000 cash transfer has helped the poor and vulnerable of the society to escape from their dire situation.
To exemplify her point, the minister said the money was so sufficient for many of the beneficiaries, such that they save from it for projects and future purposes.
Her words: “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’s the difference.
“But for these poor people in the communities, they were able to save out of that N5,000; if it’s not making any impact, if it’s not changing their economic status, I don’t think anybody will force them to contribute that N1,000 to provide that vehicle for their use. So, N5,000 goes a long way.
“When people say N5,000 does not save people, that is an elitist statement, because we’ve 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’ve 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.”
What you should know
Also known as the Household Uplifting Programme (HUP), the initiative is one of the social safety nets programmes anchored by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Following its launch in 2016, the initiative was conceived as part of the FG’s larger growth and social inclusion strategies aimed at addressing key social concerns in the country. Amongst other things, it provides N5,000 financial support to individual poor and vulnerable Nigerian households.
