The Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, said most farmers in Nigeria are currently smiling to the banks as a result of border closure by the Federal Government adding that the policies initiated by the President is for the good of common Nigerians.
Akume disclosed this at a press conference after reading the communique for Minister, Stakeholders Retreat to develop strategic plan 2019-2023 organised by Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, held in Lagos.
The Minister said that the President’s policies are for the good of common Nigerians as the border closure is to support Nigeria Farmers and transform their lives, stating that in Benue, women have taken over rice milling and selling and they are making great profits.
The retreat, which was attended by more than 200 participants including all relevant stakeholders, focused on issues aimed at providing road map for the implementation of the mandate and achieving President Buhari’s promise of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
“It was discovered that there has been no synergy and cooperation in policy formulation and program implementation among the three tiers of government. The inter-governmental formulation and management of policies, programmes and projects are yet to receive adequate attention, as all poverty alleviation programmes lack institutional mainstreaming and the failure of projects, programs and other governmental initiatives was attributed to the gap in the monitoring and evaluation system.
“Gender policy in place is not being implemented appropriately by successive government which have led to socio-economic inequalities and feminization of poverty”. Akume said.
He, however, proffered solution to the stated problems to include; a review and harmonization policies on inter-governmental cooperation and implementation of collaboration with set timelines. Also, all special projects of the Federal Government be domiciled with Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-governmental A ffairs as a special purpose vehicle for the delivery of efficient service to the people.
He also said that an institutional regulatory framework be established to mainstream poverty reduction and wealth creation for sustainable development and Government should ensure full implementation of the National Gender Policy in order to tackle socio-economic inequalities and feminization of poverty.
Akume finally, said there is a need for an inter-ministerial forum to serve as a platform for relevant stakeholders’ engagement with organized private sector and international organisations and development partners.
