World Poverty Day: We’re Committed To Reducing Poverty, Says Humanitarian Minister

The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, states that the federal government, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, is dedicated to reducing poverty to the lowest possible levels.

Edu, who spoke at the Nigeria Stakeholders Conversation 0.2 with the theme “Poverty Eradication Pathway – Roadmap to SDG 2030,” organized by a renowned civil society organization “Nigeria Youths In Politics”, which was held at IBB Golf Course, FCT, Abuja.

Edu, represented by the Ministry’s Chief Social Welfare, Joseph Dzunuwe, said it is the firm commitment of the present administration to ensure that these programs contribute significantly to poverty reduction, fulfilling the promise made during our campaign to lift poor and vulnerable Nigerians out of poverty.

“For poverty to be eradicated, as the World Bank sets out to do, governments, communities, and corporate bodies need to collaborate to implement strategies that would improve living conditions for the world’s poor.

“These strategies may include boosting socio-economic conditions, fighting and eliminating systemic racism, among others. This administration is prepared to work tirelessly to ensure that no Nigerian is left behind, regardless of their status and backgrounds,” he said.

“I would like to extend our profound gratitude to the World Bank and other Development Partners and Donors for their readiness at all times to support the government’s efforts at lifting millions of our citizenry from abject poverty.”

In his opening remarks, the convener of the program, Blessings Oyesefor, said the truth must be told: the government has been doing its best, the United Nations and international partners have been doing their best. From the MDGs to the current SDGs, what have we achieved?

We cannot achieve poverty eradication by the government alone. International organizations, the United Nations, and their development partners cannot do this alone. We need partners with critical stakeholders, the rich and wealthy Nigerians must come out to partner with the government and international organizations to come together to eradicate poverty by 2030. That’s critical.

If we genuinely want to assist the people living on less than a dollar per day, the government can’t do it alone; that’s the essence of the conversation. Let’s strive for balance and let members of the industry become critical partners; otherwise We are deceiving ourselves.”

The country is not safe anywhere, not only in Nigeria. Check the whole of Africa; there is poverty everywhere. We have a new government in place, and you want the government to eradicate poverty. That’s not feasible; the government can’t do it alone.

The sooner we embrace public-private partnerships, with members of the socialist class, the rich and wealthy, coming forward as partners, the better. According to him, leaving eradication in the hands of the government alone, in the next seven to eight years, poverty will still persist. Leaving it in the hands of the United Nations and their multinational partners alone, poverty can never be eradicated.

Blessing said we are here to advocate to the members of the social elite. 0.003% of our society possesses all the wealth. If they can come together to see how they can support and become critical partners, then we can talk about poverty eradication.

“We just hope that this conversation leads to fruitfulness because after the conversation, we will come out with our resolutions and a working paper.

“These should be submitted to the executive, the legislative, and all those critical partners, local and international, to see how we can reach our goal by 2030,” he said. However the sideline of the program witness conferment of ambassadorial awards and recognitions of potential influencers in the pathway towards poverty eradication in Nigeria.