N-Power - No fewer than 176,160 graduate beneficiaries have so far been deployed under the N-Power programme of Social Investment Programmes (SIPs), the Federal Government has said
This is part of issues addressed in a book, entitled: ‘‘Making Steady, Sustainable Progress for Nigeria’s Peace and Prosperity: A Mid-Term Report Card on the Buhari Administration’’.
The book is authored by the Presidential Media Team. It will be presented by All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday. Eminent journalist and APC chieftain Prince Tony Momoh will be the reviewer.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu and Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity, (Office of the Vice President) Laolu Akande jointly edited the book.
It added that President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that the culture of impunity inherited at the inception of his government, two years ago, is receding.
“Corruption, insecurity and the parlous economy were the challenges inherited at inception.
‘‘They have been addressed and are still being addressed boldly and honestly.
“The task of revamping the economy remains work-in-progress,’’ President Buhari wrote in the foreword of the 348-book, which is a compendium of notable achievements of his administration since May 29, 2015.
According to the book, the N-Power programme, which has reached 200,000 graduate beneficiaries from all 36 states, including the FCT, has deployed 176,160 beneficiaries.
The book also reveals that Nigeria realised N212.73 billion from agricultural product exports at the end of the fourth quarter of 2016.
It stated that the products, which contributed most to agricultural product exports in the fourth quarter, were sesame seeds with N6.46 billion, frozen shrimps and prawns with N4.4 billion.
According to the report, flour and meals of soya beans contribute N2.59 billion; cashew nuts in shell, N0.95 billion and crude palm kernel with N0.62 billion.
It noted that 46 per cent of the total 200,000 beneficiaries selected were female to ensure gender balance while 1,126 applicants with disabilities emerged successful.
It also added that a centralised Project Management Unit was being set up to carry out monitoring and evaluation of the programme across the six geopolitical zones.
“In addition to this, an MoU has been reached with the National Orientation Agency to also carry out monitoring and evaluation in all 36 states including the FCT.”
The N-Power programme is aimed at addressing the challenge of youth unemployment by providing a structure for large scale and relevant work skills acquisition and development.
Beneficiaries are expected to channel skills acquired to fixing inadequate public services and stimulating the larger economy.
The N-Power programme includes the N-Power Volunteer Corps which targets 500,000 graduates, the N-Power Knowledge which targets 25,000 non-graduates and the N-Power Build which targets 75,000 non-graduates.
“The non-graduate component to kick-off once procurement is completed; the next batch of 300,000 beneficiaries are to be selected soon.”
More programmes under the SIPs are the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme aimed at increasing enrolment and completion rate at the primary school level.
Others are the Conditional Cash Transfer aimed at providing targeted money transfers to poor and vulnerable households and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme aimed at providing financial service access to traders.
Buhari wrote the foreword of the 348-page book, which contains milestones of all the Federal ministries and some select department and agencies of government, in the last two years.
The book also detailed how the Buhari’s administration is blocking corruption loopholes in the nation’s public institutions.
In an excerpt of the 348-page publication, the team notes that beyond arrest and prosecution of suspects, the Buhari government is strengthening public institutions for accountability and transparency.
The book explores measures being instituted by anti-graft agencies, especially the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), in this regard since the last two years. These include conduct of System Study and Review in ministries, departments and agencies, and Corruption Risk Assessment (CRA) in various sectors of the nation’s economy.
The education, health, water and aviation sectors as well as e-governance platforms, including the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), have benefited from the ICPC’s CRA exercise.
The exercise, it adds, has led to the identification of weaknesses in the systems that create opportunities for corruption.
Source: The Nation