ABUJA — Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, disaster management, and social development has defended the federal government’s monthly national cash transfer of N5,000 to poor and vulnerable households.
The Minister spoke on Thursday, February 17, during a briefing with state house correspondents.
She made the comment when asked about the relevance of the initiative to the federal government’s plan to save 100 million Nigerians from extreme poverty.
The Minister stated that while the intervention may not be fitting for some classes of Nigerians, it, however, makes a difference in the lives of poor Nigerians.
Replying to Nigerians who criticized the money, saying it is insignificant, she further added that claims of the N5,000 monthly national cash transfer being insignificant is “elitist” as some people have never seen such an amount in their lives.
She said: “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, you have seen, they were able to save out of that N5,000.
“When people say N5000 does not save people, that is an elitist statement, honestly 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 it in their lives.
“So, it goes a long way, it changes their status and by that, it lifts them from one stage to another.”
Ezinwanne Onwuka, senior staff reporter and columnist with WAP is a Nigerian-based writer and content developer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her interests include reading, writing, researching and graphic designing.
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