The federal government says it has disbursed more than N600 billion in cash transfers to vulnerable Nigerians in the three years since President Bola Tinubu assumed office.
Bernard Doro, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, disclosed this on Wednesday during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
Doro said the payments were part of the government’s efforts to support poor and vulnerable households and improve their living conditions.
According to the minister, the cash-transfer programme has reached slightly more than 10 million households, which could translate to about 40 million people based on an average household size of four.
“We have done over N600 billion in cash transfers to be able to support vulnerable Nigerians within three years,” Doro said.
The minister also disclosed that the government had recently launched a vocational skills programme through which more than 18,000 people had been trained and provided with starter kits and stipends.
He said the beneficiaries also received training in business management and accounting to enable them to establish and manage businesses.
Doro added that the government was supporting farmers through a separate programme as part of its efforts to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty.
Defending the impact of the cash-transfer programme, the minister said even relatively small payments could make a significant difference to the poorest households.
“N25,000 can look very small to elites, but not to the poorest of the poor,” he said.
He said the government was focused on translating improvements in the broader economy into better living conditions for ordinary Nigerians.
“My job is to translate macroeconomic gains as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. I translate the microeconomic gains to the micro level, and you can see the traction,” he said.
FG monitoring food insecurity in North
Doro also said the government was monitoring the risk of food insecurity in northern Nigeria following projections that more than 70 million people across nine conflict-affected states could face acute food insecurity.
He, however, stressed that the figures were projections and did not necessarily represent the actual number of people who would experience food insecurity.
The minister said the government had recently implemented a presidential intervention on food and nutrition across 10 northern states.
He added that the government would continue to monitor the situation and intervene where necessary.