[Authority] Nigeria and other African nations have to rise up to the urgent need of addressing the problems of poverty and inequality even as the global community focuses on its new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
He spoke during a side event hosted by the President of Ghana, Mr. John Mahama, on Africa and SDGs at the African Union (AU) meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.
Osinbajo who is leading the Nigerian delegation to the continent-wide meeting told the breakfast event attended by a number of presidents and several heads of delegations to the AU meeting that the whole idea of the SDGs “is really about addressing inequality and poverty.”
He observed that “the problems are so obvious that however we describe the programme, we really must do something and something urgently.”
He then cited the example of the N500b social investment programme of the Buhari presidency.
According to him, “in Nigeria, in the current budget cycle we have the largest social protection programme in the history of the country. It’s a N500b programme (worth over $2.5b as at the time the budget was signed.)
“Basically we are looking at lifting many out of poverty, of course many are familiar with the size of the Nigerian state and we have close to hundred and ten million people who are poor and about two-tenth are in extreme poverty.
“So it is a very huge problem and part of what we are trying to do is to look at how not just to empower people but also to ensure that what they are given is sustainable. For the women, we are doing a programme, micro-credit programme for a million market women and artisans.
“All would be given facilities, training facilities as well to enable them to be able to do some work for themselves and to continue to be able to live. And we think that giving this micro-credit loan to women is to make sure that they handle money better and do a much better work on the whole.
“So l think that with what we have done already, we have seen that they are certainly going to work.”.
