‘For Social Interventions To Work, FG Must Fix Implementation, Power, Insecurity’

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has said the federal government’s new Social Intervention Programmes success will depend on rigorous implementation, transparency, and adaptation to Nigeria’s institutional realities.

The director/CEO of CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, on Monday, said the five flagship interventions, NG-CARES Additional Financing, SOLID for Internally Displaced and Host Communities, and the three HOPE programmes for Governance, Primary Health Care and Education, represent an important shift in policy direction.

The shift, according to him, is from a focus on restoring macroeconomic stability to ensuring that the gains of reform translate into improved welfare, greater inclusion and shared prosperity.

He stressed that cash transfers alone cannot reduce poverty without tackling structural constraints such as insecurity, high food inflation, weak agricultural productivity and poor infrastructure, adding that social protection and structural reforms must work together to deliver inclusive growth.

He listed insecurity, high food inflation, weak agricultural productivity, inadequate infrastructure and elevated production costs as fundamental constraints to inclusive growth.

He noted that “effective social interventions will protect vulnerable households during the adjustment period, while structural reforms will create the environment for higher productivity, stronger private investment, sustainable income growth and durable poverty reduction.

Yusuf also pointed out that “social protection and structural reforms should therefore be viewed as complementary policy instruments.

“Effective social interventions cushion vulnerable households during economic adjustment, while structural reforms create the conditions for higher productivity, stronger private investment, sustainable income growth and durable poverty reduction.”

He added that the programme marks an important progression from macroeconomic stabilisation to inclusive economic transformation, saying that the overriding priority now is rigorous implementation, transparent governance, effective targeting and measurable outcomes.

“Only then will the gains from macroeconomic reforms translate into tangible improvements in welfare, stronger productivity and a broader sharing of economic prosperity,” Yusuf explained.