The federal government on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to cater for vulnerable people in Nigeria, mostly comprising of displaced persons affected by the insurgency in the north as well as poor and unemployed citizens.
At a ’roundtable meeting on vulnerable people in insurgency and other conflicts in Nigeria’ organised by the office of the national security adviser which held in Abuja, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo promised that the current administration would intervene in the lives of those who cannot help themselves.
Osinbajo reiterated the administration’s commitment to spend N500 billion on the social investnents programme, for which provision has been made in the 2016 national budget.
Special adviser to the president on social investments, Mrs Maryam Uwais, listed the five prongs of the N500bn social investment programme to be: job creation, school feeding, conditional cash transfers, micro-credit and bursary. She added that a school teachers scheme to be implemented under the programme will pay participants between N23,000 and N25,000 monthly.
Minister for the environment, Ms Amina Mohammed who moderated the roundtable discussion, noted that the federal government is committed to addressing all issues and carrying all stakeholders along. She also reassured members of the civil society present that the government would not give up in its quest to rescue over 200 girls abducted from Chibok community in April 2014.
Meanwhile, the United States ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle who was at the roundtable discussion distanced the American government from a report published by UK newspaper,The Telegraph, which claimed that the US and other western governments were displeased with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The Telegraph piece had accused the Buhari government of using funds received from the United Kingdom to persecute political opponents rather than equip the military to fight Boko Haram. An unnamed US official was also quoted to have said Buhari was allowing the Boko Haram threat worsen while he is busy settling political scores.
US Ambassador Entwistle while denouncing the report said it did not reflect the the position of the American government concerning the Buhari administration.
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