FG vows to lift 50m Nigerians out of poverty in 42 months

• Minister says President Bola Tinubu is very concerned with the flooding situation in some parts of Ogun and Lagos States

The Federal Government on Friday said it is working to lift no fewer than 50 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 42 months.

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, disclosed this while speaking with journalists after a courtesy call on the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

The Minister equally said that President Bola Tinubu is very concerned with the flooding situation in some parts of Ogun and Lagos States, saying that she had equally come around to give humanitarian support to the victims of these disasters to mitigate their losses and discomfort.

Talking about her mission to Ogun State, Dr Betta Edu said, “My mission to Ogun State is simple, President Bola Tinubu is deeply touched by the flooding situation in some parts of Ogun and Lagos States and we are here to provide humanitarian support. I have the pictures and some videos, we shall be there on Saturday to take stock of the number of people affected and see how they could be supported. We came with a lot of relief materials that we shall hand over to them.

“The second purpose of my visit is to ensure that we have Ogun State social registers which fit into the national social register so that the residents here too can begin to receive the N25,000 conditional cash transfer, which some other states have been enjoying.

“The governors set up an inter-ministerial team that has been working to do in-person verification of beneficiaries of this conditional cash transfer programme and they have been working with the national team to vet these registers, ensure that they have their BVN, their NIN and be sure that their houses have been verified too so that these people can also start benefitting from these lofty programme.

“We have also carefully mapped out some programmes designed specifically for Ogun State like the adire scheme which is to support men and women in the production of adire and even link them up to markets where they can sell their products. This is part of our plan to lift people out of poverty.

“We have the traders moni, farmers moni and headhunger programmes too. Beyond all of these, we also want to support the vulnerable with grants which can help them set up businesses that could impact positively on their livelihood. All of these are targeted towards achieving the President’s directive of lifting 50 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 42 months while by 2030 everyone is out of poverty in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.