House of Representatives One of the most trending news in Nigeria today is the news of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's N500 billion proposal to the National Assembly for cash-direct palliatives for vulnerable Nigerians.
President Bola Tinubu is taking this measure to cushion the effect of oil subsidy removal on less privileged Nigerians.
According to the briefing from Tinubu's Proposal to the house "President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a letter to the House of Representatives, said that 12 million families would get N8,000 over a period of six months to ameliorate the hardships faced by Nigerians as a result of subsidy removal. The President said the initiative was aimed at helping poor and vulnerable Nigerians cope with the cost of meeting basic needs.
Cash-direct palliatives have been a major source of corruption in Nigeria, and the one proposed under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may not be with a distinction.
Although, the House of Representatives has approved the proposal for the N500 billion palliatives fund by President Tinubu while writing this piece, it is still important to roll this, for it may still assist the government in the future establishment.
For instance, the first problem that the project will face is the targeting of the right people. Let us be flexible about the claim that the country has a record of vulnerable citizens as being managed by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the fact is that the list is interwoven with randomly generated records that channel the money back to a single portfolio.
Many people saddled with the responsibility of collating data of vulnerable citizens have populated the list with records of their close relatives, children, and most unfortunately, uninformed vulnerable individuals who will still go and back kickback to these officers because they have been misled that the money is not their entitlements.
These amongst others have been the major problems that cash-direct palliatives face in the hands of Nigerian administrators, where unfortunately, only a little fraction of the vulnerable citizens have access to the grant while the bulk sum of the money is used to enrich the rich ones who sit above the board of the monetary distribution. The most perturbing case is that the adoption of the bank record or cash in hand has no definite solution to this menace as corruptive strategies
It is also important to note that the grant targets only 12 million Nigerians with a monthly stipend of N8,000.
While it is a reality that economic instability is global, it is equally important to note that a program targeting 12 million of over 100 million citizens going through a tough time amounts to nothing.
The government should therefore diversify the application of the N500 billion grant and invest the money into key economic subjects that will impact the lives of all citizens, in all sectors and categories.
Development of strategic Transportation incentives models across the major cities in the country, and provisions of agricultural inputs to maximize agricultural productivity in the rural area, amongst other developmental agenda which may cut around health, infrastructure, economy, and ease of doing business are supposed to be the priority of the government, instead of the monetary palliatives that will end up making the rich richer.
- Omooba Alekuwodo
Category: Forum
Tag: Tinubus n500 billion palliatives trending news
Written by Omooba Alekuwodo (omoobaalekuwodo)
Published 7/13/2023 5:26:25 PM