FG begins plan to lift 100m Nigerians out of Poverty

ABUJA (Min of Special Duties Report) – The Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume has said the federal government has begun the process of actualizing the vision of President Mohammed Buhari to lift 100million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years.

He made this known during a Stakeholders Retreat organized by his Ministry in Lagos from 25th to 28th November, 2019. The theme for the retreat was, ‘Strategies for the Actualization of the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs.’

The Director General of National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, in his welcome address, highlighted the importance of the retreat to the actualization of the mandate of the Ministry and its Agencies.

The meeting called for a review and harmonization of policies on inter-governmental cooperation and collaboration to be implemented with set timelines.

They also called on government to realign its climate change policy to stimulate employment generation and wealth creation; they recommended that government take appropriate steps to key into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with a view to gaining carbon credit for revenue generation.

Other recommendations include; That all special projects of the Federal Government be domiciled with Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs as a Special Purpose Vehicle-SPV for the delivery of efficient service to the people; that there should be established an institutional regulatory framework to mainstream poverty reduction and wealth creation for sustainable development; an electronic monitoring and evaluation system be put in place to ensure value for money; government should ensure full implementation of the National Gender Policy in order to tackle socio- economic  inequalities and feminization of poverty for sustainable development; and the need for inter-ministerial forum to serve as a platform for relevant stakeholders’ engagement with organized private sector and international organizations and development partners. 

The retreat was attended by more than 200 participants including the  Chairmen of the three Agencies namely, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, National Lottery Trust Fund, Nigeria National Merit Award Agency, DG National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabimalia the Executive Secretary, National Lottery Trust Fund, Bello Maigari, Officials of FMSDIGA, National Lottery Regulatory Commission-NLRC, National Lottery Trust Fund-NLTF, Nigeria National Merit Award Agency-NNMA and representatives from Lagos State, the Commissioner of Ministry of Special Duties, Federal Ministry of Environment, Officials of Association of Local Government of Nigeria and other relevant Stakeholders.