The Minister of Humanitarian Services, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, has described those saying N5,000 monthly national cash transfer to vulnerable households is insufficient as elitist.
The Minister said this on Thursday while speaking on how relevant the cash transfer initiative is to the administration’s plan to save 100 million Nigerians from extreme poverty.
She spoke at the weekly ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Media Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Farouk, reports from the field during direct contact with the beneficiaries have shown that the amount has helped them escape from the precarious situation of their social status to a better one.
“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 is the difference.
“But for these poor people in the communities, you have seen, they were able to save out of that N5,000, if it’s not making any impact, if it’s not changing their economic status.
“I don’t think anybody will force them to contribute that N1,000 to provide that vehicle for their use. So, N5,000 goes along way.
“When people say N5000 does not save people, that is an elitist statement, honestly because we have 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 have never seen N5,000 in their lives,” Persecondnews quotes the minister as saying.
“So, it goes a long way, it changes their status and by that, it lifts them from one stage to another.”
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