In line with the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s approval for verification of the National Social Register (NSR), the minister of Humanitarian’s Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Dr Betta Edu, has flagged off the activities in Lagos the home town of the president.
As the saying goes that “charity begins at home,” Dr Edu who began the verification in six villages Including Oko Agbon, Adogbo, Migbewhe, Makoko, Sogunro and Apollo in Lagos State said that the Federal government is going to put money into the households in Nigeria.
“For us to do this,” she explained. “We need to verify the National Social Register, the President has given approval that we should go down to the grassroots and ensure that the National Social Register is a true reflection of poor people.”
As she ferried in a canoe, interacting with the people, Minister Edu assured them that those who will be getting the money are those who truly need it with zero political social or personal interference.
While announcing that the exercise, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, will last for three weeks, she said they are doing what she described as both community targeting and geographical targeting.
“We need to verify that people on the list live below one dollar 95 cents a day,” according to her. “Those who have no business being in the record should be removed while those who need to be on the register should be included.”
With a gut feeling of having made a good verification Dr. Edu said, “we have seen that certain areas of Makoko have been covered by NSR, while certain areas have not been captured, we will capture them,” she promised.
Determined to carry out the activities across the country, the former Commissioner for health said that the state Governors, will chair the steering committee at state while the Local Government Areas, and Community Leaders will be involved to get NSR with Integrity.
The chance verification exercise she said is to assist them in terms of their businesses, livelihood, education, school fees for their children, improve access to social services, subsidized daily transportation cost, job creation and give them spending power to provide for basic health care needs.
“Strengthening the social safety nets and social protection system in the country was a core strategy to help end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity,” said the new National Coordinator for the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Abdulaziz Danladi.
For that reason, Danladi described Dr. Edu, as a field and community-oriented Minister, with passion for the job and supported by all the foot soldiers.
According to him, the core mandate of NASSCO was to lay a strong foundation for rigorous and reliable evidence of poor and vulnerable households in Nigeria which the Minister is championing.
The Flagged off which featured the distribution of food items and expanded medical outreach to the vulnerable had in attendance the Hon Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees migrants and IDPs, Mr. Aliyu Tijani Ahmed and DG NAPTIP, Prof Fatima Waziri-Azi among others.