THE Federal Government, yesterday, explained how it would fund the N5,000 monthly welfare payment to vulnerable Nigerians.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Mohammed, said beneficiaries of the N5,000 monthly payment would be required to meet conditions, including enrolment into the country’s development agenda.
Vanguard reports that the minister also disclosed that the insurgents had been restricted into two local government areas of the 30 local government areas they controlled at the onset of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
On how the funding of the N5,000 welfare scheme would be achieved, Mohammed said: “What we want to achieve by our social intervention of which the conditional transfer is just one part, is to move out millions of Nigerians from poverty. That is why we have this half a trillion naira social intervention.
“Part of what we intend to do with the half a trillion naira is to train market women, artisans and unemployed graduates in the art of management and also give them loans to start their own businesses. Part of our social intervention also includes the transfer of N5,000 to the most vulnerable people.
“And we are being partnered in this by the World Bank and other multilateral organisations. It has been done in many countries before and we believe that it can be done here. Many people have written ridiculously about N5,000 and claimed that it is not up to what they spend on recharge cards. And we said yes, those who are writing such things are not the average Nigerians we are seeking to help.
“If you look at the lady who is selling water melon or pawpaw, she does not have up to N5,000 capital. People don’t know that N5,000 can be meaningful for many Nigerians because they are too comfortable in their corners. They do not know that N5,000 can make the difference between life and death for many Nigerians.