Fed Govt kicks off N16tr five-year plan to end poverty

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro who spoke during the launch of the initiative in Abuja yesterday, said the OHOPRS is designed to address multidimensional poverty, with a focus on real-time data, coordinated response, and a people-centred approach.

Speaking on the importance of the system, Doro said: “We put in a lot of money to curb poverty but the impact is not there. There is a gap that needs to be corrected. Over 63 per cent of Nigerians face multidimensional poverty and there is chronic fragmentation across MDAs, states, and local governments.

“It is obvious that Nigeria does not lack interventions, Nigeria lacks systems and that is why the OHOPRS is launched.

“We have been managing poverty, not ending it and it is time for a change. We need a clear national direction, and the President gave a clear instruction.

“President Tinubu’s vision is uncompromising. He wants 50 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030. He wants us to implement real-time digital accountability.

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“He wants us to align every stakeholder to a single national system. The instruction was very clear too. So, the OHOPRS is intended to be a new national backbone designed to integrate humanitarian relief, long-term development and social protection.”

It is intended to align ministries, departments and agencies, state governments and development partners”.

Doro, while stating the urgency of the initiative, said: “If we do not unify now, we are choosing to perish.”

On the financing architecture of the initiative, the Finance Aide to the Minister, Dr. Matur Ngyang said: “Under the plan, N1.5 trillion would be contributed by the Federal Government, N800 billion by development partners, N600 billion by the private sector and impact finance, and N300 billion by climate and global funds.”

Ngyang also disclosed that contributions are expected from the World Bank, the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), bilateral donors and foundations.

He noted that without the architecture, OHOPRS remains a document, but with the architecture, the OHOPRS will be a self-sustaining system that graduates millions permanently.

“Nigeria cannot afford not to act; the cost of inaction is continued fragmentation and unending poverty.”

The Representative of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Elsie Attafuah, noted that poverty was no longer a gradual development challenge, but a humanitarian crisis that requires immediate attention.

She said: “With 62 per cent of Nigerians living in poverty and 33 million facing acute food insecurity, there is need for a systems change that integrates humanitarian response, social protection, and economic inclusion.”

On the newly launched system, she said: “This is not simply an opportunity to spend more, but an opportunity to invest best. It is an opportunity to ensure that resources are targeted with precision, that they address the root causes of poverty and vulnerability, and that they translate into measurable improvement in people’s lives.

“If this effort succeeds, it will not only improve outcomes in the immediate term, it will lay the foundation for a system that can anticipate risk, protect the vulnerable, and create pathways out of poverty that are sustainable over time.”