FG Plans to Register Poor Nigerians
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The Federal Government has said the National Social Register (NSR) has been set up to record the details of poverty-stricken and vulnerable persons in the country.
This was disclosed in Abuja by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and National Planning Mr. Olajide Odewale during an engagement meeting with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Donor Partners on National Social Registry.
Mr. Odewale who was represented by Mr. Kayode Obasa, Director Social Develolopment said the formation of the National Social Register under the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment is a great stride to reducing poverty and ensuring accessibility of social infrastructure by the poorest of the poor and hard to reach citizens.
He said that “A lot of misinformation and invalidated data are out there in the public domain and attempt to use the data to implement interventions had led sometimes to undesirable outcome hence the need to take the right steps”.
The Permanent Secretary said the idea of the National Social Register which was muted by the World Bank some years back under the Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operations (YESSO) project is now a reality as Nigeria owns a Social Register.
“I see among us the implementing partners like UNICEF, Save the Children and Action Against Hunger, for so long these agencies had invested a lot of resources in developing the register for various interventions. However with the NSR, partners can now channel resources that impact on the poor and vulnerable directly without bothering about how to generate the data” he said.
He called on all to ensure the utilization and sustainability of the National Social Register by all stakeholders in the distribution of maximum basic services. “Demand for data from the National Social Register, question it, put it to test, validate it and if it passes the quality test please do endeavor to inform others about the existence”.
In his remarks, the world Bank Representative Professor Folunso Okunmodewa, believes that the NSR would tackle would address and resolve the errors of exclusion in the country.
The National Social Register is a data register established for poor and vulnerable Nigerians to ensure effective implementation of poverty alleviation programmes. The register is established through the national Social safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), under the office of the Vice President.
Salisu B. Haiba
