The Minister of Humanitarian Services, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, has criticised those who perceived the N5,000 monthly cash transfer of the Federal Government as insufficient, saying that it is only an elitist view.
The minister while speaking during a press conference on Thursday said N5,000 is enough to improve the lives of poor Nigerians.
According to her, the N5,000 monthly cash initiative of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has impacted over 1.6 million Nigerians.
She explained that it’s only the elites in the country that see the N5,000 as a meagre amount, adding that those who are the direct beneficiaries of the initiative are categorized as the poor and vulnerable of society.
In her words, “If you look at the people that you are taking this intervention to, N5,000 means a lot to them because these are poor and vulnerable households and it changes their status, but for you and me, N5,000 is not even enough for us to buy recharge card, that’s the difference.
“But for these poor people in the communities, you have seen, they were able to save out of that N5,000, if it’s not making any impact, if it’s not changing their economic status, I don’t think anybody will force them to contribute that N1,000 to provide that vehicle for their use. So, N5,000 goes a long way.
“When people say N5000 does not save people, that is an elitist statement, honestly because we’ve had causes to go to the field, and we have seen these people that when you give them this N5,000, they cried and shed tears because they’ve never seen N5,000 it in their lives. So, it goes a long way, it changes their status and by that, it lifts them from one stage to another.” Farouk said.
