The Minister stated this on Tuesday when she led officials of her ministry and parastalas under it, to defend her 2024 budget before the Joint National Assembly Committee of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, chaired by Senator Idiat Adebule.

She said her ministry was given an overhead ceiling of N532.5bn which represents a 28 per cent increase over the 2023 budget to cushion the effects of inflation.

It is pertinent to note that the 28 per cent increase in the overhead ceiling is not commensurate to the 27.33 per cent inflationary rate in the economy today, she noted.

Edu said, “Conversely, the capital budget ceiling was reduced from N3.7bn in 2022 to N1.328316bn in 2023 and it represents a 71 per cent reduction. So, in 2022 and 2023, there was a 71 per cent reduction. However the pittance capital ceiling of N1.535b which is an increase from the current year’s budget does not in any way match with the mandate of the ministry’s headquarters to shrink poverty in Nigeria.”

The minister added, “Simply put, there was an over 71 per cent reduction between 2022 and 2023 so the minimal increase between 2023 and 2024 does not in any way match with the mandate which we have been given and what is expected of us.

“At this point, I will plead humbly and sincerely with the chairman, co-chair, and members of this great Committee that as we look into Nigeria as a nation. The burden lies on us to tackle the issue of poverty with sincerity. One thing you can take from me and my team working under the guardians of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that he truly wants Nigerians to be out of poverty.

“Except the budget is appropriate for it, we would be completely unable to meet that mandate.“

She further explained, “It will be words that would not be marched with actions. I am happy that you represent constituencies and senatorial zones a lot is being expected of you from the government in your constituencies to meet their real sincere demands.

“That is the reason why this committee must go beyond board to ensure that the present budget which was given to the Ministry and agencies is carefully looked into, reconsidered, and something more reasonable and in keeping with the realities on the ground is done.

“The ministry has several special Projects which I will not like to mention and we intend to use these special Projects as agencies under us to meet the target.”

The minister further lamented that something very serious was omitted from the budget.

She told the Senate, “If you followed the news closely, the President who is the chairman of the Federal Executive Council recently approved the creation of the Humanitarian and Poverty Eradication Trust Fund.

“This Trust Fund is expected to have a contribution from the Federal Government of 30% counterpart funding which is supposed to come from donor agencies as well as development partners.

“We also have 30% coming from the private sector and then, 10% from other very innovative funds of resource mobilization which we have already started engagement

“Similarly, 10% is expected from other very innovative funds of resource mobilization for which we have already started engagements in the over 111 days in office. “

She added, “We have been engaging massively for these funds to come into Nigeria to support the implementation of programs which we will be implementing with you at the front burner by reaching out to your constituents

“However, Nigeria needs to put its part of the bargain on the table. This would be not just an attraction to those who are supposed to be bringing in the other percent but it will serve as a lighter to reach the poor and indeed eradicate poverty from our country.

“We plead with this great Committee that as you make your submission to the appropriation committee and of course furthermore to the final level where the gavel will go down on the 2024 Appropriation, we seek that you help us ensure the inclusion of these budget line as well as appropriation for this budget line.

“I would want to plead that we would have to as an executive.”

The Chairman of the Committee, Idiat Adebule asked whether the Minister presented the budget for the Trust Fund at the budget planning stage.

Beta Edu said it was presented to the Ministry of Budget but that it was not reflected in what her ministry got back.

Edu said, “This was clearly stated as an omission and that is why we are asked to bring in as a memo to the committee to see how they can consider it.

The committee members asked whether she had the Memo, and Beta responded in the affirmative.

The Minister was also asked whether she had discussed it with the minister for the budget she answered in the affirmative.

Edu said she was with the Budget Minister and that she engaged him and also the budget office.

She said, “Of course, we didn’t get to see the copy that was sent to the committee so from the findings we got to know that the copy that got to you did not have that reflected

“Because we are interested in the money that is coming from the donor agency, it is based on this that we are taking that letter and we will make a presentation to the appropriation Committee to see how it goes. “

“We would want to say that you can hold us accountable for full implementation of whatever is appropriated to our ministry,” Edu stated.

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Edu spoke on Friday, during the celebration of her 37th birthday at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

The minister said she is optimistic that the target is achievable because the current administration is committed to reducing humanitarian crises and alleviating poverty in the country.

“My Wish and the wish of the president is that by this time next year, at least 50 percent of the people who are poor in this nation will be out of poverty,” she said.

“This is my only birthday prayer and wish. If God can grant that to me, whatever He asks of me, I will do it.

“And I do not doubt that it is achievable. It is doable given the aggressive approach of Mr. President towards the reduction of humanitarian crisis and eradication of poverty in our country.

“For our country, we just need to continue to push harder. Our president means well, and in the depth of his heart, he means well for this nation.”

She added that even if the goal is not fully achieved in the curent administration’s first term Edu expressed optimism that it would finish up in the second tenure.

“Last year, I had just two prayer requests, and God answered those two prayer requests. This year, I want to reduce the prayer request to one,” she said.

“Last year on my birthday I said, God, make President Bola Ahmed Tinubu President of this country.

‘That was one of my birthday prayers and wishes. And God answered it. This year, I have just one birthday wish, which is for the vulnerable Nigerians to be lifted out of poverty.

“So please, as we go about our work, let’s give it our all. And let’s continue to push to see that our fellow citizens are out of poverty, even if it’s not 100 percent, let’s reach 80 percent.

“We know that the remaining 20 percent when Asiwaju comes back for the second term, he will finish it,” she added.

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The co-chairman of the committee and governor of Nasarawa state, Abdullahi Sule disclosed this while speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Recall that the Steering Committee on National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy, was inaugurated by President Buhari in June 2021.

Governor Sule said, “in July 2022, we did the same steering committee being chaired by the Vice President, we sat down and reviewed a presentation by the Technical Working Group, which is chaired by the Minister of state budget and planning, as well as myself as the co-chair.

“So we presented the approval of the 400 billion naira and how it will be spent. So today we just came to review the implementation, and the update of the spending so far and also approval for this year’s spending for the same committee. So that’s really what just happened.”

On how much disbursed and the level of implementation as the administration is winding down, the co-chairman said, it’s not a governor thing but a national project where Mr. President, based on the advice, recommendation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Committee and the office of the SGF make a recommendation for this particular committee to reform.

He said, “So it’s a national thing, it is not for any particular state. Now, based on that, and the recommendation that was made, and for what we received from the chairman of the Technical Working Group, over 50 billion naira has been spent so far.

“So the performance so far is low, it is not yet where we expect to go but nearly every aspect of the 15 areas where the spending will be carried out. Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning as well, so every one of them has some kind of implementation, one after another.”

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Obi, who spoke on The Morning Show on Arise Television on Tuesday, said that the planned N5000 disbursement to 24 million people for a period of 6 months will not achieve the desired results of pulling people out of poverty.

He argued that for one to be classified as living in poverty, the person will be earning $1.9 or less per day, which is approximately N800. He said that the N800 when multiplied by 30 days amounts to N24,000, thus giving someone N5000 a month, when he needs at least N24,000 to survive, will have little or no effect, talk more of pulling them out of poverty.

“Now if you divide N5000 with N400 exchange rate, it will give you $12.50. When you divide $12.50 by 30 days, it gives you 42 cents. So by sharing N5000 per month to them, you are only giving them about 20% of the $1.9 they require to live above poverty. Worse still, you are only paying them the money for 6 months.

“Any government that desires to pull its people out of poverty should adopt a properly articulated fiscal and monetary stimulus to support micro, small, medium enterprises and also provide jobs that will pay people at least N25,000 per month,” Obi submitted.

Telling of his experience in Bangladesh where some aggressive poverty eradication strategies worked well, Obi said “In 2008, I travelled to Bangladesh, with a team of professionals, where we studied poverty eradication strategies as employed by their government. We had encounter with the locals in rural areas, and we saw first-hand the techniques they employed to pull their people out of poverty.

“They had micro credit facilities at the rural level, supervised by the government but driven by the private sector. These credit institutions support the locals in their trades and agricultural endeavours. The government also steps in to buy whatever is produced by the rural residents, which are in turn exported.

“The consequences of this is that as of 2008 when we were there, the per capita income of Bangladesh was $635. Today, after 12 years of aggressive poverty eradication, their per capita income is $1900. Their literacy rate was 58% in the same 2008, today they are at 75%. Their human development index (HDI), has also moved from low to medium.

“If you compare Bangladesh with Nigeria, in the year 2008 our per capita income was $2240, while today, after 12 years, it is $2220. So our per capita income, instead of growing, reduced after 12 years. This is because there has not been a well-articulated, implementable and measurable policies that can take people out of poverty.”

The former Governor of Anambra said that apart from Bangladesh, there were many other countries which have followed that same poverty eradication model and moved their citizens out of poverty. He said it would be wrong for the Federal Government to simply decide to pay 24 million people N5,000 each for 6 months, hoping that it would be enough to pull them out of poverty.

Obi said what is more worrisome about the whole cash transfer project is the lack of transparency and uncertainty that has characterised the whole process. He urged the government to invest in critical areas of development if they truly desire to move people out of poverty. He said that supporting small businesses with fiscal and monetary stimuli will be more effective in eradicating poverty in the country.

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Ambassador Kamanzi who spoke last week at The Bullion Lecture organised by Centre for Financial Journalism in Lagos, believes that micro finance is essential to people-centred development, as it is an important stimulant of the creation of a middle income class that is critical for African economies to substantially take off.

Ambassador Kamanzi who was the Special Guest at the lecture said it is important for lay people to understand the tenets and mechanisms of micro finance, challenging financial journalists to play a key role in this connection and to build on synergies with the operators in micro finance.

He stated that in the past decade Rwanda has been able to move more than a million people above the poverty line through a combination of strategic investment meant to uplift livelihoods of identified poor communities and tapping their own capacity to solve their problem, with a minimal push from Government.

He revealed that micro finance was pivotal in making those strategies work and transform into a success story of poverty reduction.

Giving further insight into how micro finance has helped to lift millions of people out of poverty in his country, Ambassador Kamanzi said this was achieved through a programme termed Vision 2020 Umurenge, abridged as VUP.

He said the programme was created to accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at grassroots level, explaining that it combines labour intensive projects providing jobs for active members within communities, while catering social protection for the vulnerable and impotent ones, by way of financial grants for daily subsistence.

He stated that “VUP builds on assessing the fundamental needs of beneficiary communities, mobilizing resources, human and financial, to correct development shortfalls”, explaining that “beneficiaries are enrolled in saving schemes, with the objective of promoting the emergence of micro-investment and sustainable self-reliance”.

According to him, VUP implementation was combined with the streamlining of micro finance institutions at Local Government (Sector entity) level called UMURENGE SACCO, for the promotion of savings and ease of access to credit within rural communities.

Ambassador Kamanzi added that micro finance also proved to be a problem-solver as far as improving livelihoods of indispensable professionals whose big numbers defy any attempt for significant salary increase, relative to other macro-economic considerations, especially in developing African Countries.

He stated that “in Rwanda UmwalimuSACCO was established in 2006 to that end. Its creation was triggered by the need to expand financial services to teachers including in rural areas. The MFI has more than70,000 members, with very high rural penetration. It has substantively empowered teachers to have easy access to credit to finance projects contributing to the elevation of their well-being”.

The result of these efforts has been a quantum leap by the Rwandan economy. The economy of Republic of Rwanda, a landlocked East African country that suffered from one of the worst genocides in contemporary history, has been growing at about 7.0% per annum.

Rwanda’s economic growth has been so impressive that the World Bank and other international agencies see it as a model and, in fact, a replica of the celebrated South East Asian economic miracle.

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