The federal government says it introduced the N5,000 cash handout, school feeding and other programmes under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) to reduce Nigerians’ poverty.

Sadiya Umar, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said this on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ meeting in Awka.

Ms Umar, represented at the meeting by Charles Nwanalo, a deputy director in the ministry, said vulnerable persons include the youths, elderly persons, widows, children, micro-business persons and poorest of the poor.

She also stated that the NSIP implementation involved four unique clusters designed to involve all stakeholders, particularly state government agencies, community leaders, among others.

The minister explained that the clusters on the NSIP included the N-Power aimed at building capacity, skills and competencies that could create jobs among the youths.

She also identified the clusters to include the Conditional Cash Transfer aimed at reducing the vulnerability of poor homes by providing monthly cash transfers of N5,000 and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) to drive school enrolment, boost pupils’ nutrition, and support local food production.

Ms Umar further said the ministry desired to bring Nigerians under the umbrella of the government’s social protection mechanism to scale up the number of pupils benefiting from the programme as directed by the presidency.

(NAN)