Buhari Insists on Lifting 100m Nigerians Out of Poverty
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday at the United Nations outlined the federal government’s plans to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years.
The president spoke in a video message to a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on poverty eradication.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the virtual meeting featured the launch of the Alliance for Poverty Eradication (APE).
At least, 94 million Nigerians live below the poverty line, according to Oxfam.
APE is designed to serve as a forum to galvanise UN member states, the international community and other stakeholders to support actions geared toward poverty eradication.
Buhari welcomed the launch of the initiative and expressed Nigeria’s endorsement of all multilateral actions aimed at actualising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He said: “Nigeria attaches great importance to poverty eradication.
“It is for this reason that in May, 2019, on my inauguration for a second term in office, our government committed itself to starting a new programme of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within a 10-year period.
“It is my conviction that devoting our efforts towards human capital development, efficient management of our resources, greater financial inclusion, and transformation of the agricultural sector to ensure food security are crucial to poverty eradication.
“In this regard, Nigeria continues to strengthen its existing social safety net initiative by increasing access to enrollees who fit the various programmes in the scheme.