Economy
FG Injects Over N18 bn into Kogi Economy via NSIP– Focal Person
The National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) Kogi says the Federal Government has injected over N17 billion into the state’s economy through the programme since its inception in 2016.
Mr Abdulkareem Onyekehi, the Focal Person of NSIP, Kogi state says this in Lokoja on Friday.
He said that the NSIP had four components: N-POWER, National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCT), and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), being implemented in Kogi State.
Onyekehi, who doubles as the Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Projects, said that over 43, 000 petty traders have benefited from GEEP, 34,000 beneficiaries of CCT, 12,000 youths for N-Power and about 85, 000 pupils for HGSFP benefited in the State through the NSIP.
According to him, “approximately N297 million has been injected through HGSFP, N800 million through GEEP, N5 billion through CCT, and N12 billion through N-Power into Kogi economy via the programme.
”The Federal Government of Nigeria established the NSIP in 2016, to tackle poverty and hunger across the country.
”The suite of programme under the NSIP focuses on ensuring a more equitable distribution of resources to vulnerable populations, including children, youths and women.
”Kogi State keyed into the programme in partnership and have developed enormous capacity for the implementation across all the components”.
Onyekehi explained that the HGSFP was aimed to deliver school feeding to public primary school pupils with a specific focus on increasing school enrolment and reducing malnutrition.
He said that the HGSFP was also designed to empowering community women as cooks and by supporting farmers that help stimulate the economic growth.
The focal person disclosed that the HGSFP which had been on pilot stage in Kogi, had engaged about 1,400 caterers to feed the current number of over 85,000 pupils.
He said that additional caterers were being recruited to capture more public primary schools to accommodate more pupils who were yet to benefit from the scheme.
Onyekehi said that the HGSFP commenced in Kogi State in Feb. 18, 2019 up to Jan. 16, 2020, and was in progress before the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic, which made the programme to be put on hold till date.
”Currently, we have captured 177, 640 pupils to be fed by 2,937 cooks.
”Concerted efforts are in high gear to capture all public primary schools in Kogi State with a total of over 258,000 pupils as recently validated by the National Bureau of Statistics,” Onyekehi said.
He added that the current food menu for the HGSFP given to the pupils were: rice, beans, pasta, egg, bread, beef, moimoi and pap.
”The GEEP is a micro-lending intervention that targets traders, artisans, enterprising youths , farmers and women in particular, by providing loans between N10,000, N50,000, N100,000 and N300,000 at zero interest cost to beneficiaries.
”In Kogi State, over 50,000 SMEs have benefited from the GEEP, such as Trader-moni, N10,000; and Market-Moni between N50,000 -100,000 at zero interest loan.
He said that a sum of about N800 million had so far been disbursed to 50,441 beneficiaries of both Trader-moni and Market-moni in Kogi.
Onyekehi explained that a total sum of N434.4 million had been disbursed to 43,443 beneficiaries under Trader-moni, while N365.2 million disbursed to 6,998 beneficiaries under Market-moni in Kogi State.
He, however, noted that the newly introduced Farmer-Moni of N300,000 with zero interest loan by the federal government was yet to commence in the state.
Speaking on the N-Power, Onyekehi says that the programme was designed to assist young unemployed Nigerian graduates and non graduates to acquire and develop life-long skills to become change makers in their communities.
According to him, with a stipend of N30,000 monthly, a total of 12,964 youths of Batch A and B from December 2016 to June 2020, have so far benefited from the scheme in Kogi, amounting to about N11.6 billion.
He explained that the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme directly support those within the lowest poverty bracket by improving nutrition, increasing household consumption and human capital development through cash benefits to various categories of the poor and vulnerable.
”It supports poor and vulnerable households with N5,000 monthly stipend to cushion their consumption levels with the overall objective of reducing poverty, prevent the vulnerable from falling into poverty lines and building their resilience to withstand shocks.
”Presently, Kogi State has a total of over 72,000 on the next phase of payment schedule and 12,091 with on-going enrolment while awaiting 49,000 new data.
”The current number of beneficiaries is 34,000, with monetary value of approximately N5 billion injected into the economy of Kogi from CCT alone”, Onyekehi said.
Onyekehi commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the initiative in providing jobs and lifting the poorest and vulnerable citizens out of poverty.
He assured the commitment of the state Gov. Yahaya Bello to the full implementation of all Federal Government programmes in the state.
Onyekehi further commended the governor for being a strong advocate of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration owing to the maximum support he has given to the program for effective implementations.
”The governor secured the NSIP office complex, pay NSIP staff salaries, funds all the implementations logistics and other running cost of the NSIP office.
”Without the support of the Governor, it would have been difficult for NSIP to record these achievements so far in Kogi,” he said.
Onyekehi appealed to the federal government for more logistics for the office of the Focal Person of Kogi NSIP for more effective implementations and program for result (PforR). (NAN)
To end the week, the stock market rebounded from previous losses, gaining N74 billion.
Investor interest in MTN Nigeria, FBN Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and other equities lifted the market.
Notably, the market capitalisation opened at N56.014 trillion, adding N74 billion or 0.
13 per cent to close at N56.088 trillion.The All-Share Index also advanced by 0.
13 per cent, or 129.44 points, closing at 97,606.63, compared to 97,477.19 recorded on Thursday.As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return increased by 30.54 per cent.
The market breadth closed positive, with 31 gainers and 19 losers on the floor of the Exchange.
On the gainers’ chart, Consolidated Hallmark Plc and Sterling Nigeria led by 9.
45 per cent each to close at N1.39 and N4.98 per share respectively.Mecure followed by 9.19 per cent to close at N10.10, Regency Alliance Insurance gained 9.09 per cent to close at 72k, while Fidson Healthcare Plc increased by 8.24 per cent to close at N15.10 per share.
Conversely, Deap Capital Management and Trust led the losers’ chart by 9.93 per cent to close at N1.36, NEM Insurance trailed by 9.71 per cent to close at N7.90 per share.
Daar Communications also lost 9.52 per cent to close at 57k, Tantalizers shed 9.09 per cent to close at 60k, while Dangote Sugar declined by 3.31 per cent to close at N31 per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 20.33 per cent.
A total of 304.43 million shares valued at N5.60 billion were exchanged in 6,950 deals, compared with 277.75 million shares valued at N4.65 billon in 7,091 deals traded in the previous session.
Meanwhile, Access Corporation led the activity chart in volume and value with 68.26 million shares valued at N1.34 billon.(NAN)
By David Torough, Abuja
The Nigerian Economic Society (NES) has decried Nigeria’s socioeconomic dilemmas, including; low personal incomes, dysfunctional education, healthcare systems, unemployment, rising inflation, poverty, amidst other critical issues.
This was part of the communique at the end of the association’s 65th annual conference held recently in Abuja with the theme: Socioeconomic Development in Nigeria: Imperatives, Implications, and Impacts.
It emphasised that the factors greatly contribute to insecurity, food scarcity, energy poverty, widening social inequality as macroeconomic instability and called on relevant stakeholders to urgently address the challenges.
President Bola Tinubu who was represented by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima through
Dr. Tope Fasua, underscored the
pivotal role of economists in shaping national development.
Tinubu reiterated the importance of their role to make the citizens feel integral and empowered, knowing that their contributions were crucial to the country’s development.
He urged them to approach the economy optimistically, stressing that their work was crucial, and that improvement was
always possible.
In his remarks, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu underscored the importance of socioeconomic resilience amidst global economic challenges.
He acknowledged the relevance of the conference theme, stating its timeliness in addressing Nigeria’s development needs.
On his part, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun who delivered the keynote address on “Leveraging Economic Reforms to Leapfrog Nigeria’s Socioeconomic Development,” underscored the potential benefits of these reforms and stressed the need to better utilise Nigeria’s human and natural resources to spur socio-economic development.
He predicted that while structural reforms might cause short-term economic shocks, they would stabilise the economy in the long run, bringing hope for a brighter future.
In his presentation, the NES President, Professor Adeola Adenikinju who presented “Nigeria’s Socioeconomic Challenges: Lessons from the Structural Adjustment Programmes,” recommended:
Instituting an economic governance structure for the country, designating
some Ministries as economic ministries that qualified economists and allied professionals
must staff, adopting macroeconomic models to analyse the impacts of policies and assess
alternative scenarios.
Adenikinju also recommended; implementing export-led growth strategies by promoting value-
added exports and incentives for export-oriented industries and infrastructure, prioritising agro-allied industries to boost socioeconomic outcomes, implementing targeted subsidies or social safety nets to cushion vulnerable populations against the immediate impacts of reforms, amongst others.
The 65th NES Conference provided significant insights into Nigeria’s socioeconomic
development challenges and proposed actionable recommendations.
Participants emphasised the need for visionary leadership, policy synergy, and a commitment to long-term economic transformation to ensure sustainable development for Nigeria.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) says it will henceforth issue Outline Business Case (OBC) Certificate of Compliance and the Full Business Case (FBC) Certificate of Compliance within seven days.This follows the charge by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Director General of the Commission, Dr Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh “to accelerate investment in National Infrastructure through innovative mobilization of private-sector funding”.
President Tinubu also charged him to work assiduously to boost infrastructure development in Nigeria as part of the renewed hope agenda of the current administration.In view of the above, Dr Ewalefoh-led management team of the ICRC has streamlined the approval processes of the commission to issue its certificates of compliance within seven days. This will accelerate the turnaround time for approvals by the Commission.“In line with the charge of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and following his Renewed Hope Agenda, we have streamlined and updated our approval processes to issue either of the Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance (OBC) and the Full Business Case Certificate of Compliance (FBC) to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that meet the requirements within seven days.“This is part of efforts by the current administration to accelerate infrastructure development, bridge the infrastructure gaps and stimulate the economy through investment of private sector funds in Public Private Partnership endeavours.“By streamlining our processes, the Commission is in no way foregoing any of its stringent approval steps or key requirements, therefore, only business cases that are viable, bankable, offer value for money and meet all other requirements will be approved.“The ICRC cannot do it alone, therefore I implore all chief executives of MDAs to match our momentum and align with this charge of Mr. President to accelerate Infrastructure development and ensure that PPP projects are not stalled at any point but delivered within record time.“The Commission is ready to partner and collaborate with all MDAs to actualize this,” he said.In a statement by Ifeanyi NwokoActing Head, Media and Publicity on Monday the ICRC DG in August rolled out a six-point policy direction which among others, focused on accelerating PPP processes, boosting inter-agency collaboration and ensuring innovative financing.The ICRC was established to regulate Public Private Partnership (PPP) endeavours of the Federal government aimed at addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit which hampers economic development.
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