The Federal Government inaugurated the National Steering Committee (NSC) of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS), with the plan to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the committee was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as its Chairman.
The Vice President revealed that the NPRGS proposed the establishment of a private equity fund, the Nigeria Investment and Growth Fund (NIG-Fund), to lead resource mobilisation drive and manage its resources.
“This journey began in January 2021 when I directed the Chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to collaboratively work together to articulate what will lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
I am happy to note that the process of designing this inclusive poverty reduction strategy recognised and addressed past mistakes as well as laid the foundation for a sustainable poverty reduction.
This would be done through wide range consultations held at all levels of government, development partners, the private sector as well as the civil society,” he said.
President Buhari added that the National Steering Committee’s major focus is to translate the FG’s good intentions into a positive impact on the average Nigerian and consequently on the nation.
“If India can lift 271 million people out of poverty between 2006 and 2016, Nigeria can surely lift 100 million people out of poverty in 10 years.
Fortunately, we have already started, but we need to unlock the challenges of slow implementation, inappropriate targeting and absence of adequate resources,” President Buhari said.
He added that the responsibilities of the committee also includes providing oversight for the implementation of the strategy and providing guidance to Technical Working Groups and Federal Ministries, Extra Ministerial Departments and Agencies, subnational governments and other stakeholders on meeting the objectives of the programme.
The President also ordered the committee to monitor progress and any other effort that will enable 100 million Nigerians to be lifted from poverty in ten years.
what you should know
Recall that Nairametrics reported last month on how the FG plans to implement the NPRGS, citing 4 pillars including:
a. macroeconomic stabilization policies to improve the capacity of the economy to absorb shocks and avoid disruptive adjustment.
b. Industrialization for Economic Growth and Transformation of the economy from commodity-dependent growth path to a diversified, industrialized, knowledge-intensive, and job-creating economy.
c. Structural Policies and Institutional Reforms to engender efficiency in service delivery, promote transparency and accountability in the management of fiscal resources, bridge the infrastructure gap, improve private sector development.
d. Redistributive Policies and Programmes to reduce levels of risk, vulnerability, shocks, and deprivation. The latter includes programmes aimed at enhancing incomes, job opportunities, and wealth creation through vocational skills training, micro-credit and micro-enterprise development, and livelihood diversification in the agricultural sector.