The Federal Government has begun the verification of the national social register to enable it reach out to truly indigent citizens of Nigeria.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, disclosed this during a courtesy visit on Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the State House, Marina, on Saturday.

Edu said that the ministry visited Lagos State on the “directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to carry out the verification of the national social register and see things for ourselves,” even as she commended the state for doing excellently well.

The minister said that the Federal Government would work with the Lagos State government to see that we “truly verify all the people who are on our list as beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer.”

While commending Lagos State on its efforts to tackle poverty among its residents, Edu said: “Lagos equally has the Ministry of Wealth creation, among other ministries that are directly linked to poverty alleviation and the management of the humanitarian crisis.

“Remember that the conditional cash transfer is supposed to go to the pockets of Nigerians with conditions to ensure that their children are in schools and they are able to provide the food they will consume, livelihood and other conditions that will be attached to the funds that we will release.”

She said that the Federal Government will be releasing the funds to 15 million households in Nigeria and this will be starting almost immediately.

According to Edu: “That is why we have been on the field to verify the national social register, we are working with the state governors and chairmen of the state steering committee.”

The minister, who had earlier in the day visited Makoko, said: “I visited Makoko this morning and there, I could identify that some parts of it have been covered under the national social register. But we have a little part that has not yet been covered. So, we are going to do a little community targeting to ensure that the community is covered. Other locations that require our help have already been covered in the national social register and we will only verify and expand when the need arises.”

“After this verification, we have been able to identify that the intended beneficiaries are truly Nigerians, they are poor, and live below 1USD per day and they are truly in need of these funds. Then, we will release it to them.”

Edu said that the Federal Government is interested in reaching out to Nigerians to pull them out of poverty while providing a social safety net for citizens to be able to thrive.

The minister disclosed that the Federal Government is handling 15 million households across Nigeria, which she noted, “will amount to directly reaching out to over 62 million Nigerians.”

She stated that about 16 million Nigerians are affected by the humanitarian crisis and that the Federal Government would ensure that the needed help gets to them.

Edusaid that the social safety net created by the President Tinubu administration would ensure that parents get access to funds to survive on, send their children to school and resuscitate their means of livelihood

In his response, Governor Sanwo-Olu commended Dr. Edu and her team for the visit to the state.

He commended her for taking up the big and huge challenge, saying: “it is not in age, it is not in gender, it is in ability and capacity.”

Sanwo-Olu also lauded President Tinubu on his appointment of Edu as minister, saying that “Nigerians believe that through the ministry and various agencies, their tomorrow will be better than their today.”

While noting that the minister’s visit was apt, the governor said: “She has come to see thing for herself. This government has done right and we cannot continue to give excuses. We need to review how we got to where we are. We know how strategic your ministry is. We want to serve, we want to take people out of poverty, we want to identify the needy in our society and be able to support and help them.

“Whoever does it doesn’t really matter. We shouldn’t let the bureaucracy of both sides reduce or undermine the benefits or the support that both Federal and state governments want to achieve. The real solution should be that people must feel the impact of the real commitment of what we are going to do.”

He promised that Lagos State would continue to provide the space and ambiance where Nigerians would continue to do well and aspire to do whatever they can.

Sanwo-Olu also sought the support of the agency and other federal agencies. (Saturday Independent)