Presidency explains failure of poverty reduction programmes

The Federal Government yesterday said undue influence of political patronage and the godfather syndrome were among the factors frustrating poverty reduction intervention in the country.

Besides, the presidency is worried over what it described as “weak partnership among the three tiers of government” even as it recognises that no tier can deal with the poverty issues alone.

Head of the National Social Safety Coordinating Office under the purview of the Vice President, Peter Papka disclosed this in Kano yesterday, pointing out that the Federal Government was not satisfied with the level of impact of its initiatives on poverty reduction on the poor and vulnerable, in spite of the disbursement of huge resources.

“While government spending on poverty reduction interventions has been on the increase, there has not been commensurate lifting of people out of poverty, rather people are getting poorer.

“We have observed weak performance tracking of people handling it, poor coordination and inappropriate targeting process of the poverty reduction programmes,” he stated.

He also lamented that the programme was being managed through top-down identification of the poor.

Papka, who spoke while inaugurating 180 Community Based Trainees for social safety net programme in Kano, said the new agency has entered into a partnership with the state government to ensure the smooth implementation across the selected 15 local councils in the state.

The first phase of the pro-poor programme under the office of the Vice President is running in 11 states of the federation. The selected trainees are presently undergoing a four-day capacity building on how to identify the vulnerable and poor, who would benefit from the social safety intervention.

Kano State Head of Service, Auwal Naiya lauded the Federal Government’s initiative, saying the programme would further complement various empowerment programmes of the Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje administration.

He advocated the inclusion of additional local council areas in Kano considering its large population.