Awka – The Federal Government has through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, distributed engagement letters and tablets to the trained one hundred and fifty independent monitors of the National Social Investment Programmes, NSIP, in Anambra state.
The one hundred and fifty independent monitors of the national social investment programmes were selected four persons from each of the twenty-one Local Government Areas of Anambra state.
Under the activity, the federal government is expected to pay the monitors, a stipend of thirty thousand naira monthly, for one year, which they are to be eligible for by meeting up to eighty percent of their monthly tasks.
The obligations of the one hundred and fifty independent monitors under the programme include routine Monitoring of all programmes under the National Social Investment Programme , NSIP, in their assigned LGAs, Provision of evidence-based report on findings in the field, and Submission of various categories of reports in accordance with the set timelines, among others.
The National Social Investment Programme, NSIP, was created by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016, with the mandate of lifting citizens out of poverty through a number of Social Interventions which include the Job Creation Programme – N-POWER, National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, NHGSFP, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, CCT, and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, GEEP.
These programmes were moved to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in 2019, following the creation of the Ministry, and presently, the Programmes are being implemented in 36 states of the Country and the Federal Capital Territory.
In her speech at the ceremony held in Awka on Monday, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar-Farouq, represented at the event by the Director Planning, Research and Statistics in the Ministry, Mr Raphael Oraeluno reminded the independent monitors that the Ministry has the right to disengage any of them for misconduct or noncompliance with set guidelines and directives.
She therefore urged them to carry out their assignment with outmost sense of patriotism, diligence, and sincerity as the Ministry will not accept anything short of the set standards.
“These are programmes initiated by the Federal Government to touch the lives of Nigerians and that is why the work of these monitors is very important. We need to monitor these programmes to ensure that they are implemented appropriately. We chose these independent monitors instead of from our ministry, because we want to do it very well. We don’t want to be a judge in our own case so we want them to give us unbiased and reliable data from their various Local Governments of Residence. This will help us to further strengthen the programme to work well for the state and for the country,” she said.
Anambra state government was represented at the event by the state National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme Focal Person, Lady Chinwe Iwuchukwu who spoke through the state Program Manager National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, Lady Uzoamaka Eriken restating the commitment of the state government towards ensuring that the state maintains the lead in the poverty alleviation programs of the federal government.
“The state government gave an enabling environment for the programmes to thrive. Through these programmes, Anambra State Government is supporting the Federal Government to touch lives of people in the state,” she explained.
In their various speeches, the Deputy Director Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management And Social Development who is also the Team Leader for distribution of the engagement letters and tablets in the South East, Mr Charles Nwanelo-Anelo, state Director National Orientation Agency, Barrister Charles Nwoji, and Director Anambra state Cash Transfer Unit, Mr Raphael Enukorah, while pointing out that the employment of the independent monitors will enable the Ministry detect areas where there are challenges, provide greater visibility of activities happening in the field, and as well help it to deliver on its mandate and contribute to President Buhari’s vision of lifting one hundred million Nigerians out of Poverty.
They tasked the monitors with transparency and fairness in their daily routine.
In their various interviews, some of the Independent Monitors including Mr Kenneth Ayiba from Njikoka Local Government Area, Miss Chinyere Eze, and Mr Anthony Okafor thanked the federal government for the initiative and promised to live up to expectation in the course of their duties.
