Buhari proposes N60b for women, artisans, names Uwais as co-ordinator
President Muhammadu Buhari
DETAILS of President Mohammadu Buhari’s social protection programme are emerging with disclosures yesterday that one million artisans and market women will each get soft loans of N60, 000.
To co-ordinate the Social Protection Programme, presidency sources said, a Special Adviser has been named in the person of Mrs Maryam Uwais, a lawyer who was a Principal Partner of Wali Uwais & Co, an Abuja-based law firm.
She is to work with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on the president’s pet project.
Details of the distribution method were sketchy yesterday evening but a senior top government adviser revealed that they are part of budget proposals going to the National Assembly.
The micro-credit component is one of a six-point social protection programme of the administration, that will require the approval of the National Assembly approval to become part of the budget.
The programme is to be co-ordinated by a Special Adviser for Social Protection Plan in the presidency,, but it will involve several federal ministries.
According to the official, they are: the Teach Nigeria Scheme, where the government plans to directly hire 500,000 graduates as teachers ; the Youth Employment Agency:where between 300,000 to 500,000 non graduate youths would be taken through skill acquisition programmes and vocational training, for which they would be paid stipends during the training.
There is also the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) where government ;the Homegrown School Feeding and the Free Education Scheme.
On the payment of N5,000 to one million Nigerians, the presidency source recalled that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, had explained that such cash transfers would enable those extremely poor Nigerians “to live decently.”
According to him, “this is the most misunderstood of the schemes” adding that it would only be for extremely poor people based on “a set of criteria that is being determined including the use of social registers which the president announced during the budget speech as being currently compiled.
The World Bank is working with the Federal Government on some of this programmes including the CCT.”
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8 Comments
This is one of the not well thought through programs of government with all the trappings of uncertain dead, through lack of continuous funding or administrative bottlenecks. Where there’s a plan there’s a way. We should stop throwing scarce resources at ill conceived programs with no chance of success.
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This program will encourage laziness and poverty.
Kudos, we voted for change and this is a welcome development. Our women no doubt will be pleased with this development
This is the best people — friendly budget ever in the history of this nation.If well implemented, that is
The N60,000 loan to 1 million market women and artisans is an excellent program, if well implemented
The commission and costs of the program, should not be more than 5%. And the recipients should be actual market women and artisans. No nepotism. The market women and artisans should be encouraged to use the money to increase their inventory, hire more people or invest it in their business in other ways as opposed to using the N60,000 to buy a brand new LG Television or other stuff
This is indeed a people’s government
This is N60b down the drain. What business can one do with N60k? The government should create a conducive environment for the private sector to thrive and create jobs. While the industrialized world is moving their manufacturing bases to peaceful cheap-labour countries (China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, etc.), they shun Nigeria, largely because of insecurity and poor infrastructure. Our public office holders plunder the nation’s wealth and stash it abroad. All we need to do is to restore law and order to attract investors. Government cannot collect all the revenue it is collecting and claim it cannot invest in business. How will the economy develop if all that money is meant for stealing? Government must invest in critical sectors until a genuine private sector can take over without major economic tumult. Dashing N60k to 1 million Nigerians is throwing good money after bad. Or is it their share of the loot? Within five minutes, loud mouth rogues like Akpabio, Fayose, Wike, Orji Uzor Kalu, Sylva, etc. would spend more than N60k in a honky-tonk, entertaining fellow miscreants.
We will review and take appropriate action.