The Npower Programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria is one of the Social Investment Programme (SIP) of the APC led Government.
The Programme which kicked off in 2016 August has benefited about 500,000 Beneficiaries with 30,000 monthly stipends.
The beneficiaries of the programme are in different categories of Nteach, Nagro etc. Majority of these beneficiaries are graduates while some are non graduates.
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The payments of their monthly stipends have been accompanied with series of corruption as this is evidenced in the mode of payments, which have rendered most of the beneficiaries handicap.
Investigation reveals that before the transfer of the programme from the office of the Vice President to the Ministry of Social Investment and Disaster Management, the corruption associated with the payments of the stipends were so minimal.
Subsequently, the transfer of the programme to the new Ministry headed by Hajia Fadiya Farouq has destroyed the little reputation of the programme.
The delay of the monthly stipends by the Hon. Minister of Social Investment and Disaster management is not an ordinary or technical issue, but a deliberate action which is linked to corruption.
It’s believed that the ministry has put the money meant for the beneficiaries into a fixed deposit account to yield them some interest before payment, hence the frequent delay every month without any reasonable excuse.
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More so, the communication gap between the management of the programme and the beneficiaries has been widened since the transfer of the programme to the new ministry.
The communication was so cordial when the programme was under the office of the vice president, with update on payment and nonpayment. There was a frequent dissemination of information via all social media platforms. This has since reduced drastically under this ministry
The latest statements by the leadership of the National Assembly on the alleged distribution of N20,000 each to some Nigerian and the subsequent destruction of the Accountant General Office by inferno speaks volume about the activities of the ministry.
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At this point, let me emphasize that President Muhammadu Buhari ( PMB) has good intention to roll this program which off course is reduce alarming rate of unemployment in country but this young woman has come on board to destroy this good intention with her maladministration, corruption and open glare of wickedness by unnecessarily delay volunteers’s stipends since she came on board.
Again, it is imperative to state that the second phase of Npower program is christened “Enhancement Scheme” which is to give permanency to the pioneers but this young because she is ill prepared, she came out to say recently that she is thinking of exit plan.
This outburst by this Minister portrayed that this woman only mistakenly came on board to destroy the good intention of President Muhammadu Buhari as concern Npower program.
Npower volunteers have come of age to be absorbed in Ministries, Agencies, Parastatals and other giant private companies like Dangote, Innoson Motors, Shell, MTN, Glo, Airtel, Etisalat, Erico and many others juicy companies out there
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While calling for immediate sanctioning and removal of this woman, EFCC should probe the activities of the minister on SIP to ascertain the level of Corruption in the ministry.
In addition, I call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly, Print and non print media, NGOs, Civil societies, and well meaning Nigerians to prevail on this woman to do the needful especially at this time the whole nation is lockdown as these volunteers equally defendants who feed from this monthly stipend.
As I conclude, let me say that Nigerian politicians are not merciful, especially when women are in charge they tend to do more than what men will do, this was the case of Mrs. Alisson Madueke.
Mustapha Abba
Social Commentator
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