N-Power: Nigerian Minister, Sadiya Farouq's Directive To NSIP Focal Persons Confirms Her As A Joker!

N-Power beneficiaries have been exited, but uncertainty still surrounds their 'Next Level' shift.

Last Thursday, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development of Nigeria, Sadiya Farouq, disclosed that she has directed Focal Persons of the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs) in all the states of the federation "to submit an updated list and details of the exited N-Power beneficiaries that are interested in participating in the transition plans of the ministry". This disclosure is a joke, and further portrays Farouq as unworthy of occupying the seat of a minister of the Federal Republic, let alone Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.

First of all, Since N-Power's inception in 2016, authorities in Nigeria have always had the details of these graduate beneficiaries. That's the truth. Beneficiaries submitted their credentials online to put in for the famed programme. On successful application, they were made to pass through physical verification, before being posted to their respective Place of Primary Assignments (PPAs). N-Power handlers have always worked in conjunction with the country's National Orientation Agency (NOA). Even though a lot of them (N-Power beneficiaries) do not know their state Focal Persons or how to reach them, they've always conveyed their plight by means of the N-Power Volunteers Network (NPVN) as well as the official social media accounts of the Job Creation and Empowerment Initiative of the Social Investment Programme of the Nigerian Government.

On the NPVN Web, every detail the handlers of the N-Power scheme want is available. Or don't they have access to the backend? Beneficiaries input their mobile numbers, email address, Date of Birth, Bank Account details, Local government of residence, et al.

At their PPA, especially the N-Teach beneficiaries, they are made to sign staff nominal roll every month. And so long a beneficiary is bonafide, his/her monthly stipend is expected to always roll in. One now wonders what new information Farouq's ministry needs now that she has sent 500, 000 Nigerian youths back to the streets.

It is funny how the Nigerian government maintain N-Power applicants should not have a job, yet they put the programme at six months to one year.

So, you want the same fate that befell these exited Batch A and B beneficiaries to also happen to Batch C? Who prays for a tentative job. A job that is not even a gainful one.

Some persons may feel one is so harsh with Farouq. But for any unbias mind, it is clear that Hajia Farouq doesn't know what she is doing concerning the N-Power programme of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Farouq has been "looking at all options for the planned exit" since at least January 2020! She revealed this during her visit to Daily Trust at the time. “I don't know the fears of the beneficiaries, but I know that the government had this N-Power programme and it is supposed to be a two-year programme.

"Those in 2016 were supposed to have exited in 2018, but because there was no plan in place, the tenure was extended. So, they know from the outset that it's not a programme that will be there for life.

“For us as a ministry, we're looking at all options for the planned exit," Farouq had said.

But fast-forward to this period, weeks after saying they've been ejected from the N-Power programme, 'efforts are still being made by the Honorable Minister who is currently engaging various MDAs including the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to ensure that the eligible exited beneficiaries are transited to government progammes or even employment where available'. A proper plan should have been put in place before sending these beneficiaries out!

It is either Farouq is deceiving the 500, 000 exited N-Power beneficiaries, or she is inconsiderate, or she is just being preposterous.

It is even laughable for her to segment her message for 'those that are interested in participating in the transition plans of the ministry'. Who among the bonafide beneficiaries will not be interested in an auspicious transition? Or is she deaf to all their cries? Besides, beneficiaries who desire to opt-out of the programme have always had that option open to them on their NPVN dashboard! Had they been disinterested in anything N-Power, of course, they'd have long hit the exit button on their dashboard.

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Farouq, who they say is by age the youngest minister in the current federal cabinet need to turn over a new leaf.

Yes, the period of engagement of the Batch A and B beneficiaries have lapsed, but don't play on their intelligence with some absurd proclamations. And please, try to always be prompt with their monthly stipends. Before your coming, they've never had it worse!

A reminder that July stipend has still not been paid to Batch B. And this is September!