Global Action for Children

Lagos — Despite several efforts, strategies and plans by various actors, the issue of poverty is yet to decline in Nigeria. More than 70 million citizens are said to be affected by the scourge, which is prominent among the global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, the struggle continues. Abimbola Akosile examines new efforts by the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and other actors to curtail and improve on a dire situation 

Global, Local Goals

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include: Goal 1: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; Goal 2: achieve universal primary education; Goal 3: promote gender equality and empower women; Goal 4: reduce child mortality; Goal 5: improve maternal health; Goal 6: combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases; Goal 7: ensure environmental sustainability; and Goal 8: develop a global partnership for development.

Elimination of poverty occupies the pride of place among the goals. Member nations of the UN signed onto the realisation of the Goals in 2000 - Nigeria included - with each country pledging commitment to meet the targets of halving the various depressing statistics on each of the eight goals, by the deadline year 2015.

Angry Calls

A Guinness World Record was shattered from October 16 to 18 in 2009, when 173 million citizens gathered at over 3,000 events in more than 120 countries, demanding that their governments eradicate extreme poverty and achieve the MDGs.

‘Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!’, then in its fourth year, was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest mobilisation of human beings in recorded history, an increase of about 57 million people over 2008.

"The more than 173 million people of which 1.85 million were mobilised by the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) across the country sent a clear message to world leaders that there is massive, universal, global demand for eradicating poverty and achieving the MDGs," said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. (UNMC).

Over 13 million Nigerians who participated in the annual event, sent a clear message to government that there is massive, national demand for eradicating poverty and achieving the MDGs in the country.

Vital Strategies

In the discharge of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP)‘s mandate of coordinating and monitoring all poverty eradication activities and intervening where necessary, the anti-poverty agency has drawn up intervention schemes to ensure that the poor are not left out of the economic development process of the country.

In carrying out its duties, NAPEP, led by the ‘Anti-Poverty Ambassador’, Dr. Magnus Kpakol, acknowledges that partnerships are key to success and so carries out its mandate with critical partners such as the federal, states, local government, the private sector, and non governmental organisations.

In the year 2009, NAPEP, through its various programmes, which included the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Scheme, In Care of the People (COPE), Village Solutions Scheme, Give-Back, Promise Keeper Programme, Keke NAPEP scheme, touched many lives.

In the 12 Pilot States in which the COPE programme was operational, over 35 primary school age children who would otherwise have been kept out of school, were kept in schools in the poorest of households, NAPEP has revealed.

Under the Village Solution Scheme, over 1, 872 anchor processing projects with over 3, 417 capacity building activities were established in various communities across the country, the agency added.

Within the same period, NAPEP succeeded in sensitising over 28 States executives in its activities. Over the year, the agency has recorded modest success in leading the campaign to mainstream the fight against poverty. The process is a continuous one.

NAPEP Checklist

According to the poverty eradication agency, every state today has a poverty eradication ministry. It had not always been so. This has been made possible through NAPEP’s coordinating role;

NAPEP has succeeded in building partnerships with organisations, the private sector etc, which are critical in the fight against poverty;

Its (NAPEP)‘s position over the years on the role of micro-finance as a tool for fighting poverty has today gained acceptability;

NAPEP’s position on the need for mass participation in the economic development process through the establishment of ANCOR processing projects in the rural areas is fast gaining currency.

Village Solution

In 2010, NAPEP intends to carry out its schemes in ways that will involve a paradigm shift.

To actualise this shift, NAPEP has designed a new policy direction under the Village Solutions Scheme (VSS) that would lay emphasis on the involvement of not only the private sector, but also individuals (Champions), States and Local Governments in the mobilisation of resources for micro-financing for poverty eradication at the community level.

NAPEP’s resources are deployed catalytically to spur massive participation in poverty eradication across the country. However these resources alone are not adequate to generate the kind of activities that are required to confront the poverty eradication issues. Thus, there is the need to partner with the private and public sectors in order to mobilise funds for poverty eradication in the country.

In the revised approach, NAPEP plans to lead the effort to involve private sector, as Micro-Finance institutions, and commercial banks to lend to the poor. This will generate massive savings in communities and build the capacity of the people to participate in the economic development process of the country.

The aims of the revised VSS include to ensure that the private sector is at the fore front in the fight against poverty as it relates to micro-credit delivery; to boost the efficiency of anchor project and capacity widening through partnerships and expertise from stakeholders, in the Village Solutions Development Scheme.

The scheme also seeks to develop and build skills at the grassroots for entrepreneurial development and reduce rural urban drift, and to turn the rural communities into centres of economic activities.

Funding Pathway

Funds for this new focus are to come from various sources which will be coordinated by NAPEP, the agency noted.

NAPEP is to provide funds for each Local Government as its contribution while the State Governments are expected to match the investment funds to Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) in the State for specific projects in the states.

MFBs will lend the funds for the establishment of agro-processing anchor projects in Local Governments on a competitive basis. These funds from NAPEP and the Local government are to offset part of the interest to accrue to the lending MF banks.

Micro Finance Banks are to lend to credible investors on a negotiated market rate with Local Government and NAPEP funds will be used to reduce the negotiated interest rate.

NAPEP recognises that to be successful in the fight against poverty, there is the need for innovation and creativity hence a departure from the old methods, which had not been quite successful.

Grassroots Empowerment

Analysts believe it is the duty of every government to care for its people especially the vulnerable and invest in them so that they can uplift themselves and contribute to national economic development.

NAPEP provides a window to enable government discharge this responsibility in a way which promotes economic freedom through empowerment for participation in the development process.

This is in line with NAPEP’s mandate to coordinate and monitor Nigeria’s poverty eradication activities and promote economic empowerment and participation of the people.

NAPEP causes the use of government funds to promote this participation through empowerment in the following areas: financial empowerment; grants; Micro Credit; larger grassroots credit.

The agency intends to partner with various stakeholders to provide financial empowerment. These include States, Micro Finance Banks, Local Governments, Individuals, etc.

It also embraces educational empowerment to promote enrolment and retention in schools, especially of the girl child; Village Trust Fund for School Feeding; Civil Responsibility Training; Vocational/ entrepreneurship training to identify the gaps and ensure empowerment with relevant skills etc.

NAPEP also plans to partner with National Directorate for Employment (NDE) and SMEDAN on vocational and other trainings to identify the gaps and to ensure the provision of relevant skills etc.

On the issue of health empowerment, the agency is focusing on the promotion of awareness of medical services available to ensure regular attendance to medical facilities as a measure of the increasing wellbeing of the people. NAPEP will partner with Ministry of Health to promote utilisation of health services through the Village trust Fund for Health.

The issue of general economic participation also comes up, to enable government to promote and link the masses to mainstream economy and leveraging available infrastructure, e.g. ICT, roads, power, water, etc.

NAPEP in the course of discharging its coordination and monitoring mandate, also plans to partner with various institutions in these various areas thereby, helping in linking the poor to leverage the opportunities which exist within these cross- cutting sectors.

Crucial Start

NAPEP has good intentions, which if well implemented, will go a long way to ameliorate poverty in Nigeria; a situation which appears to defy all solutions. However, the agency cannot afford a stand-alone approach, reason for its persistent call for private sector participation in the poverty alleviation process.

Some say poverty cannot be eradicated, not in Nigeria, not anywhere else. Others say a good dose of political will, backed by formulation and implementation of pro-poor policies and programmes, will spur citizens’ empowerment and by implication lift them out of poverty.

The only consolation is that everyone seems to be tired of the depressing situation, and the good thing is that any positive action in this regard has a ripple effect and is visible to all. NAPEP intends to do its utmost, others must follow suit. Anything less renders the process meaningless. A word for the wise.