N-Power: FG Engages 206 To Monitor SIPs In Lagos

As the Nigerian government keep on with the N-Power programme, a total of 206 persons were last Friday, in Ikeja, handed engagement letters and tablets to monitor and supervise the Federal Government’s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in Lagos State.

Mrs Sadiya Farouk, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, at the event said that the 206 independent monitors were among the 5,000 trained from February 2021 to April 2021.

The Minister, who was represented by Bashir Alkali, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, stated that their job was to monitor beneficiaries of NSIP and send reports to the ministry, in order to improve on the programme.

According to her, NSIP was created by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 with the mandate of lifting citizens out of poverty, through a number of social interventions.

She cited the interventions to include, the Job Creation Programme — N-Power, the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCT), and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

Farouk said that the programmes were being implemented in the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory.

”Today I am here to flag off the distribution of Engagement Letters and Devices for the trained independent monitors in Lagos State.

”These devices are equipped with an application that will be used to report on monitoring activities of the trained Independent Monitors.

”All devices to be used for monitoring the programme are made locally in Nigeria and the monitoring application was also designed by an indigenous company.

”The application, called the Social Investment Management Information System (SIMIS), is a mobile and web-based application designed for monitoring the National Social Investment Programme.

”Using this application, the ministry sees real time reports of activities of the independent monitors on the field. We can view reports submitted and see the NSIP performance indicators by state.

”This will enable the ministry to detect areas where there are challenges and provide greater visibility of activities happening in the field,” Farouk said.

The minister added that essentially, the application would help deliver on the ministry’s mandate and contribute to President Buhari’s vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.

She said that each independent monitor, who was expected to monitor a designated number of beneficiaries of the NSIP, would be paid a monthly stipend of N30,000, upon meeting up to 80 per cent of their deliverables.

Farouk further said that the scope of work of the monitors included routine monitoring of all programmes under NSIP, in their assigned Local Government Area.

She said that they were to provide evidence-based reports on findings in the field and submit various categories of the reports in accordance with the set timelines, among others.

In his goodwill message, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, commended the Federal Government for the commitment to improve the quality of life and lift vulnerable people out of poverty.

Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Housing, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, said that over 6,800 of Lagos residents had benefited from the regular cash transfer of the NSIP.

”It is my hope that as the implementation of this programme progresses, a lot more of our people will be brought on board as beneficiaries under this programme, and to cushion their economic difficulties that have been aggravated by COVID-19 pandemic and the current challenge of insecurity.

”I congratulate all the trained independent monitors that are being given their letters of engagement and tablets today. I also urge you to see your engagement as a call to service and an opportunity for you to contribute your quota to the success of these very important programmes of the Federal Government.

”You have a duty to exercise due diligence and demonstrate commitment in the application of the skills and knowledge that have been imparted on you during the training.

”On our part as a government, we will continue to play our roles and support the Federal Government to ensure that Lagos state has its fair share of beneficiaries of this laudable programme,” Sanwo-Olu said.