[Nigeria] NAPEP, 24 States Partner to Fight Poverty

from All Africa

NATIONAL Agency for Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), has entered into partnership with no fewer than 24 state governments as part of efforts to fight poverty nationwide.

National Coordinator of the agency, Dr Magnus Kpakol, explained that the collaboration was aimed at creating a pool of funds for establishing viable businesses and for providing basic community infrastructure service.

Dr Kpakol, who stated this during a courtesy visit to Champion House, the corporate headquarters of Champion Newspapers Limited in Lagos, yesterday, reiterated that the poverty level in the country had dropped from 70 per cent in 1999 to 54.4 per cent in 2005.

He attributed the drop to the measures taken by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

He said the measures included good governance, the fight against corruption and reform, among others.

Dr Kpakol also disclosed that arrangements had been concluded for the disbursement through commercial banks and microfinance institutions, the N2 billion Multi-Partner Micro-Finance Fund recently raised in Rivers State as part of efforts to combat poverty.

He said, the agency had since provided matching fund for the scheme stressing that those to benefit from it include artisans, women and youths.

NAPEP in collaboration with Rivers State government and Oceanic Bank International Plc had last January, pooled together a micro finance scheme of N2 billion.

The fund was mobilised to empower local entrepreneurs in the state.

Dr Kpakol, said the MP-MF programme in the state would serve as a model for other states stressing, that it emphasised NAPEP's strategy for integrating micro credit with infrastructure development for the attainment of sustainable economic growth and development at the community level.

He commended the media for its support for NAPEP's programmes even as he appealed to all Nigerians to join hands with the agency to eradicate poverty in the land.

On continuity of NAPEP's programmes, Dr Kpakol assured that they would outlive the present administration because of their positive impact on the citizenry.

He said perceived fear that a new government in 2007, may dismantle the entire scheme was therefore, unfounded.

"Nigerians know what is good and the basis for believing that there will be continuity is that we have a process that is working. For the first time in this country, we are seriously talking of anticorruption measures, in a very direct way. We have the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) we have the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), we have due process mechanism, we have the fiscal responsibility act, among others."

"It will be very difficult for any government to come and say it will not pursue anticorruption measures anymore because Nigerians have come to embrace these things," he said.