Some beneficiaries of Npower batch C alongside their family members protested against the non-payment of two months allowance yesterday.
The protesters who carried placards with different inscriptions bemoan the Federal Government for not paying them their monthly allowances for July and August.
They also appeal to the Federal Government through the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajia Sadiya Umar Faruk to extend the programme for at least two years as it was done for both Batch A and Batch B beneficiaries.
Due to the shortage of funds, the Npower scheme has often been in the news for its inconsequential payment of stipends to beneficiaries in the last two years. The Federal Government also reduced the duration of the scheme from two years to one year.
Established in June 2016, Npower was created to address the issue of unemployment and increase social development.
The scheme was created for unemployed graduates and non-graduates between the ages of 18 and 35 as a component of the National Social Investment Program (NSIP), to provide a structure for large-scale and relevant work skills acquisition and development.
While Npower aims to ensure that each participant will learn and practise most of what is necessary to find or create work, all beneficiaries are paid a monthly stipend between a sum of 10,000 to N40,000 naira.
Unfortunately, issues of delayed payment or non-payment of the monthly stipend have characterised the empowerment scheme.
In December 2021, hundreds of Npower beneficiaries protested in Abuja over more than three months of unpaid allowances.
According to one of the protesters, Micheal Bright, he said they have yet to be paid their monthly allowance, a situation which he says has left many of them hungry and sick.
“We have been enduring hunger for months and we cannot take it anymore. That is why we protested today. Something urgent has to be done.” He concluded.