The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has said poverty was the reason for insecurity and other social vices experienced in Nigeria, hence President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to curb poverty through the ministry.
Speaking Monday in Abuja, during the Advanced Training on Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) 2.0 Digitisation and Registration for Programme Managers and Master Trainers, Farouq, who was represented by the National Coordinator of NSIP, Dr Umar Bindir, said that the beneficiaries will be trained on using digital skills to eradicate poverty.
She said: “Poverty is an issue in our nation and it is very high. There are people in this country, irrespective of the region, that have not seen light or water for 60 years. You need to go to your respective villages to understand what I am talking about. You will see a poor man marrying many wives and giving birth to many children to continue the chain of poverty.
“The issue of poverty has been faced by different governments, with attempts to tackle it under different programmes. In 2019, in order to tackle the issue of poverty, President Muhammadu Buhari created the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, saddling Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq with the task of rescuing millions of Nigerians from poverty, especially under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).
“Poverty is the cause of different forms of insecurity, including kidnapping, farmer-herder crisis, etc. The kidnappings heard in Nigeria are being carried out by young people between 15-25 years. This is one of the reasons the federal government introduced the N-Power programme, under NSIP, to ensure that youths are employed after graduation.
“For me, this training is an opportunity for the beneficiaries and participants from different parts the country to acquire digital skills. This training needs humility. Partnership, cooperation is needed to achieve the objectives of the training. Share information. Share your skills to actualise your ambition and help the federal government in realising its objectives of lifting millions of Nigerians from poverty.”