On FG’s conditional cash transfer

It is no longer news that the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer programme whereby poor Nigerians are paid N5,000 per month is already in operation. This was one of the promises of the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari.

It is indeed commendable that the promise is being fulfilled less than two years after the APC came to power. It is however fair to observe that quite a majority of Nigerians are still in the dark about the modalities for determining poor people and how the funds are being disbursed. When, for instance, was a census of the poorest Nigerians taken and who conducted it?

There are beggars on the streets in all Nigerian states who, for instance, might have been captured in the programme but who obviously were not. It is also important to ensure that there is no form of discrimination whatsoever in determining the beneficiaries. This means that, in accessing and benefitting from the scheme, supporters of the ruling party should not enjoy any special privileges not extended to supporters of the opposition parties in the country. This advice is necessary because nearly everything in Nigeria is given a political colouration, and there are news reports that some members of the ruling party tried to hijack the scheme.

In addition, Nigerians expect the state governments to be open and transparent with respect to the operations of the scheme in their respective domains. Where some of the beneficiaries are unemployed youths, the state governments should work towards providing them jobs so that they can be removed from the scheme as soon as possible, while other beneficiaries are brought in.

The government must also ensure that the beneficiaries are not stigmatized in any way, particularly as it is ultimately responsible for the appalling conditions in which millions of Nigerians remain trapped. The impression should not be given that it is doing the beneficiaries a favour. Rather, government should simply see the scheme as a way of performing one of its social responsibilities.

It can, of course, be argued that N5,000 is a pittance in today’s Nigeria, particularly in a recession. We should however not lose sight of the fact that as the proverb goes, half bread is better than none. And there is nothing stopping the state governments from setting up similar schemes or adding some money to the Federal Government’s “pittance” and making the masses happy.

Jonathan Adebowale

Lagos