IS THE SELECTION OF 2.6M POOR FAIR?
IS THE SELECTION OF 2.6M POOR FAIR?
By:
Nurudeen Dauda
April 19, 2020
nurudeendauda24@yahoo.com
nurudeendauda24@gmail.com
nurudeendauda.blogspot.com
To begin with, the most important questions that Nigerians need answers from their government are: (1) Does National Social Register truly exists? (2) If yes, what are the criteria used for selections? (3) What are the distributions by Geo-political zones, states, Local governments and communities? (4) Does National Assembly oversight it? (5) If yes what is its assessment? And (6) If No, Why?
It is now clear that very few Nigerians knew that we were once told that, there is the existence of 2.6million social register of the poorest poor who have been receiving N5,000 monthly stipend from 2016 to date under the Conditional Cash Transfer, CCT of the federal government.
Very few also once heard that CCT is partly financed by International Development Association (IDA). IDA is a fund under World Bank which aims to reduce poverty by providing “credits”and "grants" for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people’s living conditions.
We were equally once told that the repatriate of the alleged $321m Abacha loot from Switzerland was on the condition that it would be used for CCT. It was once reported that, on the 4th, of December , 2017, Nigeria, the Swiss Federal Council and the World Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the tripartite agreement for the World Bank to monitor spending on the said fund.
However, the "heat" generated recently in both social and conventional media confirms to me that "perhaps"majority of us Nigerians "heard" about the existence of the said 2.6million National Social Register, NSR for the first time . More so, many Nigerians were shocked when it was reportedly said that 2.6m Nigerians were paid the sum of N20,000 cash each within a week as their four months upfront earlier directed by the president . That amounted to a whopping sum of about N52bn paid to the beneficiaries! By estimation , our country might have spent the sum of N624bn for the period under review on the said program .
The uproar generated from the said issue shows that either "majority"of Nigerians do not completely believe with the transparency of government or are completely "uninformed" about its policies and programmes. It further reveals that , the legislature, the civil society organizations, the opposition parties and the executive are completely on different "page"on the said issue.
Some Nigerians who knew about the existence of the National Social Register for the CCT program have asked for "electronics" payment system for the sake of transparency as against the present "physical cash"payment method being operated.
On the other hand, some Nigerians are of the view that, physical cash payment is the most effective method to reach the most vulnerable Nigerians who have no bank account, no phones, no access to electricity let alone internet services connectivity .
In my suggestion , as a country that signed the Open Government Partnerships, OGP, agreement, the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Development and the office of Presidential Adviser on NSIP must come clean. Let them publish the data of all the beneficiaries of CCT for the sake of accountability and public scrutiny.
The Nigerian Social Investments Program, NSIP, of the Buhari Administration was initially coordinated by Special Adviser to President on Social Investments, Maryam Uwais under the supervision of the office of Vice President, Professor, Yemi Osinbanjo from 2016 to 2019.
In my view, what all well meaning Nigerians should always continue to ask for is justice, fairness, openness and accountability how public funds are spent. The duty of public office holders is to provide answers to questions being asked by the public without unconvincing excuses.
May God bless Nigeria!