FG to Lift 90m Nigerians Out of Poverty

• FG to Lift 90m Nigerians Out of Poverty

The Federal Government has concluded plans to lift about 90 million Nigerians out of poverty across the country.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Ms Sadiya Farouq, stated this while presenting the N44.21 billion proposed 2020 budget of the ministry to the House Committee on Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees presided over by Rep Mohammed Jega on Monday.

She explained that the ministry was saddled with the responsibility of addressing the underlying causes of internally displaced persons like drivers and the consequences of humanitarian crises.

The minister said this includes the high level of poverty of almost 90 million of Nigeria’s 198 million population.

It should be recalled that in 2018 the Brookings Institution estimated that Nigeria has 87 million extremely poor people, that same number was projected by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to increase to 152 million by 2050 when Nigeria’s population would have risen from 198 million to 429 million.

The report further noted that Nigeria and Congo will house 40 percent of the world’s extremely poor people by 2050.

“By 2050, more than 40 percent of the extremely poor people in the world will live in just two countries: Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria,” the report stated.

While the minister has said the ministry will address drivers of internally displaced persons, its possibility remains uncertainty given the high unemployment rate of 23.1 percent or 20.9 million people.

A breakdown of the ministry proposed 2020 budget comprises of N474,306,285 for personnel, another N165 million was appropriated for resettlement of IDPs in the North East and Bakassi returnees.

Also, N15 million was budgeted for 1,000 IDPs enrolment into NHIS; N105 million allocated for renovation/rent of 21,000,000 per state; N60 million back appropriated for school fees; N105 million for drilling of borehole; N184 million for securing land for relocation and reintegration of IDPs in FCT, Nasarawa States and N110 million for 2,200 families as return assistance to North East, among others.