‘We’d lift 100m Nigerians out of extreme poverty’

Nigeria’s presidency has once again re-stated its vow of lifting 100m Nigerians out of extreme poverty in the next 10 years.

President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Social Investment Programmes, Barrister Ismaeel Ahmed who spoke on behalf of the Presidency said the re-elected Nigerian leader laid the foundation to fulfill the promise in the last four years of his administration. He also outlined how they plan to achieve this.

“The first four years of the President Buhari administration has been a tedious project of setting up a foundation for the journey ahead.

“That journey on our part is to see that we empower the less privileged, the poorest Nigerians, the unemployed, and giving them the opportunity to lift themselves out of their predicaments and empowering them for self-development and fulfillment.

“The President is committed to this project, and thus has set a mandate of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty within the next 10 years.

“It may sound too ambitious to some or perhaps even outlandish, but with the renewed focus and commitment I have seen from the President, this is a feat that can be achieved and we must ensure that we roll up our sleeves to do just that.

“We have set targets for ourselves. We are going to up the numbers by reaching more communities, reaching more people who are within our purview.

“Each of the clusters of the Social Investment Programmes has a target of the number of beneficiaries it must reach within a period of time given the availability of resources. We are going to make sure that we do not falter, slow down, relax or give up. We are determined.

“Also we are going to ensure that we improve on our monitoring activities – this would ensure that we take stock of where we are and what we are doing at every point in time. If we see that we are not measuring up to targets then we know that we need to scale up,” he added.

Ismaeel further explained: “I have a reason to believe that poverty should not be a permanent feature or an affliction that must remain with us. The goal set out by the President on lifting a 100 million people out of extreme poverty is a task I am personally committed and dedicated to.”