From Femi Mustapha, in Kaduna
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening social protection as a critical strategy to combat poverty and improve the well-being of vulnerable Nigerians.
Speaking during a high-level engagement with the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.
The Minister emphasized that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration remains focused on expanding social safety nets, including the National Social Register and the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, which is currently targeting 15 million vulnerable persons across the country.
“To effectively reduce poverty, the three tiers of government must work together. States and local governments have a crucial role to play in complementing the Federal Government’s efforts”.
The Minister stressed that humanitarian interventions must go beyond emergency relief to include development-oriented components, such as livelihood support and capacity building for long-term economic resilience.
He expressed the Ministry’s willingness to collaborate with civil society actors, particularly under the Act Naija! – Civil Society Action to Strengthen Social Protection in Nigeria project, which is co-funded by the European Union.
He directed the Director of Social Development in the Ministry to immediately follow up with the ANEEJ team and provide a formal response to their proposals within a week.
“Social protection is a shared responsibility. We welcome this initiative and look forward to working closely with stakeholders like ANEEJ to build a more inclusive and accountable system that leaves no one behind”.
Earlier in his remarks, the ANEEJ Executive Director, Rev. David Ugolor, said that the visit aimed at briefing the Minister on the objectives and scope of the EU-supported Act Naija! Project and to formally seek the Ministry’s partnership in advancing inclusive and sustainable social protection policies and programmes across Nigeria.
The engagement was a follow-up to an earlier consultation with the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu.
Rev. Ugolor outlined the critical goals of the project, which include convening a National Dialogue on Social Protection, fostering evidence-based policy recommendations, and establishing a National Council for Social Protection under the framework of the Act Naija! Initiative.
He also requested that the Ministry designate a focal person to serve as liaison with the Act Naija Project team and proposed that the Ministry’s leadership chair the quarterly Act Naija Social Protection Dialogues, which will produce independent reports to support government planning and intervention, he said.
The meeting followed an earlier engagement between ANEEJ and the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, and forms part of ongoing consultations to foster multi-stakeholder collaboration in the implementation of the Act Naija! Project.
The Act Naija! The project is co-funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by a consortium comprising the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), the New Initiative for Social Development (NISD), and Bread for the World, Germany.
