…As EU, UNICEF, ILO pledge to assist Abia revamp social protection system
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Gov. Alex Otti of Abia State, says his administration is working tirelessly to reduce poverty in the state, far below its present 30% rate, in the next one year, despite growing population.
He noted that whereas it may not be possible to eliminate poverty, the government was working to alleviate it by creating the enabling environment for businesses to grow, generate employment and generally improve the quality of lives of its citizens.
The Governor, who addressed a delegation of the European Union with its development partners from the UNICEF and International Labour Organization (ILO), who visited the state, however, said the government would require a reliable database to be able to plan and measure progress in its quest to address the poverty issue.
“We may not be able to eliminate poverty but we can alleviate it when we create an enabling environment for businesses to grow and generate employment and pull people out of unemployment.
“So, we want to genuinely take people out of poverty and we want to generate a reliable number. We want to see the number and see the poverty rates go down even if the population is going high. Once you have a reliable database it becomes easy to plan and for you to measure,” the Governor said.
While thanking the team for considering Abia as one of the states selected for partnership, Governor Otti restated that everything his administration had done in the last eight months in office was geared towards genuinely bringing Abians out of poverty.
“I want to see that in the next one year with an increase in population, the poverty level will be reducing not just the rate.
“We have struggled with the social register. I am happy you are talking about social register and social protection. There is nothing as important as data, because without data you cannot plan.
“So, we’ll do everything possible to ensure that you do your work and generate reliable data for the purpose other than social protection.
“I think the world is looking at multidimensional poverty, like you said, which means we are not just interested in poverty as a stand-alone item, but poverty that looks at wealth, access to education and infrastructure. I think those three are multidimensional poverty that you’re looking at,” Governor Otti said.
He informed the team that Abia was one of the safest in Nigeria, having committed a lot of resources in the security sector with the launch of the security initiative “Operation Crush,” which he noted accounts for improved security in Abia State.
The Governor said that his government was happy to work with the European Union and its partners, describing the cooperation as commendable. He added that Abia would be pleased to see the International Labour Organization also partner the state in resolving issues of pension to which the ILO representative responded positively.
In her remarks, the Commissioner for women Affairs and poverty alleviation Mrs Blessing Felix, said that Abia as of today cannot boast of a reliable social register, adding that the intervention of the team will help the state to come up with an accurate and reliable social support register that has eluded the state for many decades.
Earlier in her speech, the team leader and Programme Manager for Social Protection, European Union, Miss Chioma Osuji, told the Governor that they were in Abia to partner the state in strengthening its social protection system by coming up with a reliable social register that would serve as a guide in providing the necessary support to addressing the multidimensional poverty rate in the state.
She regretted that many poor Nigerians were yet to be captured on the social register to determine the actual number in need of their services, adding that the whole process will now be digitised to tackle the multidimensional poverty rate in Nigeria.
The team lead, while noting that Abia was selected among four states to enjoy the partnership of EU and her partner agencies, stated that the team would help the state get a social protection policy with all the legislative framework.
In a remark, the Social Policy Specialist UNICEF, Nigeria, Mr. Segun Tekun, said UNICEF would offer technical support and policy framework that would help address poverty and revamp the social protection system in Abia State.
UNICEF which expressed concern over the growing poverty rate in the country, stressed the need for home-grown solution in addressing the menace.
” This intervention will focus mainly on technical support. One of the things we want to ensure is that policy designed by state to address the issue of poverty and vulnerability takes into account the needs of the people”.
UNICEF further pledged to assist in capacity building of people in the state with a view to reducing the number of people in the social register.
” We will build capacity that will help support policy work. We will design home-grown solutions that will help address poverty and vulnerability in the state.
” Our interest is that the number in the social register should actually reduce. When we speak to Governments, our interest has been economic reforms, getting the economy to work with attention to the social sector.”
UNICEF urged the state to get people in the informal sector onboard its pension scheme.
We have large informal sector especially in Aba, and one of the ways to move those people from the informal sector is through pension. Pension is necessary to ensure that people have income security at their old age.
Adding her voice, the Senior Programme Officer, ILO, Mrs Chinyere Emeka Anuma, noted that all three agencies including EU are collaborating to strengthen intervention projects in their chosen locations.
