A non-governmental organisation, ActionAid Nigeria, has urged the Federal Government, to, as a matter of necessity, release enough funds for the execution of various projects under the National Social Investment Programmes (N-SIP).
The group said this was essential so that the sole objective of N-SIP of alleviating poverty and improving quality of life, especially among poverty-stricken Nigerians, who are up to 75 per cent of the country’s population, could be achieved.
The group made the call in a statement signed by the country’s Director, Mrs Ene Obi, and made available to newsmen, saying based on its findings via monitoring and evaluation, N-SIP projects, though, had truly impacted the lives of target people and the populace at large in a positive direction, more would have been achieved should more money be pumped by government into the projects.
ALSO READ: NEMA distributes livelihood materials to victims of natural disasters in Yobe
While identifying N-Power Programme (NPP), Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP) and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) as three areas out of the N-SIP projects that the group and some other civil societies had monitored and evaluated their implementations with over two million people captured across states of the federation, Obi said, that only N463.30 billion (representing 35.64%) out of total N1.3 trillion budgeted for N-SIP projects in three years from 2016 to 2018, was not good enough.
According to her, only N80.14 billion (representing 16.03 per cent) out of the total N500 billion budget was released in 2016, while only N155 billion (representing 38.75 per cent) and N228.16 billion (representing 57.04 per cent) were released respectively out of the total N400 billion budgeted each for the two subsequent years.
Should a significant part of the allocations were released, N-SIP projects would have been more impactful in the lives of Nigerians.
Even at that, she pointed out, the programmes had contributed to addressing, among others, problems of out-of-school children and youth unemployment in the country.
According to her, there is clear evidence, for example, of meals provided in primary schools through HGSFP such that more pupils are now going to school and concentrate on their lessons in class.
“There is also a reduction in absenteeism, and in some cases reduction in the rate of illness among pupils as reported by their headteachers, parents and pupils themselves in the communities visited,” she added.
On N-Power, Obi pointed out that, those engaged under the scheme either as school teachers, healthcare givers or in agricultural establishments and offices had greatly added values to the existing workforce at their places of primary assignments.
“But upon all these, we believe that more people can be reached if the voted funds are released,” the group insisted.
and then