FG to Tackle Poverty Headlong, Says Osinbajo

Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has stated that the cardinal objectives of the present government was to tackle the scourge of poverty headlong and foster the kind of inclusive developments that would take marginalised and vulnerable segments of Nigeria out of poverty in the shortest time possible.

Osinbajo stated this at the inauguration of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 38 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, Plateau State on Friday.

He said President Mohammadu Buhari choose the theme: ‘Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms for Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Development in Nigeria’ as the theme for Course 38 to enable the government tackle the prevailing poverty rate in the country which has now reached an unprecedented and alarming 61 per cent.

“Nigeria ranks 152 out of the 183 countries in the Human Development Index assessment for 2014. This is quite worrisome and requires urgent intention and that is why one of the cardinal objectives of the present administration is to tackle the scourge of poverty.”

The Vice President, who was represented by the Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, charged the participants to carry out extensive and detailed research on the challenges confronting public institutions saddled with responsibility for implementing poverty reduction and inclusive development programmes in Nigeria.

He said, on the whole, the participants recommendations at the end of the programme should be geared towards accelerating the quest for sustainable national development and improving the living standard of the people.

Earlier, in a welcome address, the representative of the Director General of the National Institute, Mr. Jonathan Mela said the set theme was not only apt but also directly relevant to attempts at finding solutions to many of the social, political and economic problems be-devilling the nation.

He noted that apart from running the Senior Executive Course, the institute as part of its mandate introduced another important training programme which was four weeks course targeted at enhancing the managerial capacities of the middle level officers in both the public and private sectors of the economy.