Beta Edu Explains How FG Will Lift 133 Million Nigerians Out of Poverty by 2030

Funmi Ogundare

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Beta Edu, yesterday, said her Ministry was planning to lift 15.7 million households out of poverty.

Edu, a guest on ‘The Morning Show’ on ARISE News Channel, who was speaking against the backdrop of Nigeria’s UNGA 78 progress report, explained that the country was targeting 133 million Nigerians by 2030, in line with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Her ministry, she stated, is currently working on the verification process in collaboration with the World Bank, UN agencies, state governments’ coordinating team and local communities to verify who the poor people are and whether they deserved to get the social intervention using the social safety net.

“We want to double on this almost immediately with the expansion that the president has approved to cover all the people we intend to work with.

“The UN has said countries should be able to eradicate poverty by 2030. Nigeria is one of the key players in Africa and it concerns the UN. Aside this, the president is concerned about pulling Nigerians out of poverty,” she stated.

She emphasised on the World Food Programme, saying her ministry was committed to ending hunger in Nigeria and had also worked out the modalities and plan which it would be making public at an event coming up next month when it would be delivering food to households across Nigeria as part of the end hunger plan.

 “The homegrown school feeding programme and other initiatives are also coming up to reduce the tension caused by the removal of fuel subsidy,” she added.

“We believe very strongly that within the next one year, we should be able to say that we have reached at least 20 million Nigerians who are verifiable and ensure that the success rate is at least 80 per cent.

“The Humanitarian Trust Fund will have clear governance structure which involves United Nation(UN), private sector and government.

“Seventy per cent will be coming from the private sector and crowd funding and it will be done in a transparent manner such that countries that have donated will have the confidence on what the funds will be used for.

“It is about building the confidence between government and the people we govern,” she explained.

She noted that her ministry would be working with the Ministry of Finance and nine other ministries to make the verification as seamless and transparent as possible.