It is no news that the Federal Government, through the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) has started the disbursement of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) to alleviate poverty among vulnerable and low-income households in Nigeria. This was made known by Halima Shehu, the newly appointed national coordinator and CEO of NSIPA. You may like to check FG Starts Paying N25k Conditional Cash Transfer.
Categories of Conditional Cash Transfer
Shehu outlined two categories of CCT during her Senate screening. The first category involves enrollees receiving ₦5,000 each, providing immediate relief as part of the federal government’s poverty alleviation efforts. The second category, known as ‘livelihood,’ grants ₦150,000 to beneficiaries after undergoing vocational training, enabling them to start small or medium-scale businesses.
Government’s Commitment to Poverty Alleviation
The federal government, under President Bola Tinubu, secured an $800 million loan from the World Bank, reaffirming its commitment to sustaining the conditional cash transfer scheme initiated by the previous administration. The plan involves providing ₦8,000 monthly to 12 million poor and low-income households across the country for six months.
All payments for the CCT initiative will be directly made from the Central Bank of Nigeria to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts, ensuring transparency and accountability. Shehu assured that no agency officials would handle the disbursed funds. The disbursement process will be supervised by development partners and the World Bank to guarantee transparency.
Shehu highlighted that the disbursement process involves collaboration with payment service providers, who will reconcile payments to ensure accuracy. The conditional cash transfer program, even when digitized, will maintain a high level of transparency, with monitors overseeing the process.
Shehu also discussed other government initiatives such as the N-Power empowerment program, designed for graduates and non-graduates for a two-year period. Additionally, the involvement enterprise empowerment program targets small and medium-scale entrepreneurs, while the Homegrown school feeding program aims to feed pupils of public schools from primary one to primary three during school sessions.
The government’s multi-faceted approach, combining immediate relief through conditional cash transfer and long-term economic empowerment, demonstrates a commitment to tackling poverty at its roots. The structured disbursement process and collaboration with international partners ensure accountability and transparency in these poverty-alleviation initiatives.