Posted by By Sun News on
Recently, the Federal Government came up with plans to commit N100 billion to its poverty reduction scheme.....
Recently, the Federal Government came up with plans to commit N100 billion to its poverty reduction scheme. This was premised on the hope that the measure will go a long way in cushioning the pains occasioned by the on-going implementation of the many economic reforms embarked upon by the government.
Explaining the rationale for the new scheme, the Economic Adviser to the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Dr. Osita Ogbu, stated that the money is taken from the savings made from the debt relief granted the country by the Paris Club to its poverty reduction project.
Ogbu said that this sum would be complemented by the petroleum support fund of N150 billion already earmarked to stabilise the price of petroleum products in the 2006 fiscal year. Additionally, the government has secured N50 billion from banks to disburse to small and medium scale farmers at a concessionary interest rate of eight per cent.
All these and the government's economic blueprint as encapsulated in the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), the State Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (SEEDS) and the Local Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (LEEDS) are geared toward poverty alleviation and repositioning of the nation's economy.
The new thrust in government's poverty reduction initiative is welcome. We, however, advise that there is need for government to be more serious in these interventionist programmes especially in terms of their reach and depth.
In executing this scheme, we must be statistically conscious as regards how many people the project has impacted upon and its overall outcome. We have come to the stage where poverty reduction should transcend mere tokenism or short-term palliatives very much advertised in the media. At best, such programmes should be structured to empower the beneficiaries by acting as a synergy for further entrepreneurship that would engender more economic activities that would create more jobs for other Nigerians.
We do not subscribe to the way and haphazard manner some of these programmes are presently being executed. The present system creates room for untidiness in the way these funds are disbursed to the beneficiaries. For once, let the government act with some modicum of conscientiousness so that we can know those we can hold responsible in case of non-performance or system failure.
The projects should be made to have concrete and realisable objectives that Nigerians can point at. We abhor the current practice where some of these funds are channelled multi-sectorally thereby making it practically impossible for proper accountability and visibility of the impact made. In such hydra-headed approach, nobody can actually be held responsible for any shortcomings.
In this period where the government is grappling with the targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which include poverty reduction, the deployment of this fund in this area comes at the right time. Let all stakeholders ensure that this project works. We appeal that this time around, Nigerians would not only feel the impact but also see it in measurable terms so that they would not see poverty reduction scheme as another drainpipe for siphoning the nation's wealth.