The Kaduna Social Protection Accountability Coalition (KADSPAC) has lauded Federal Government’s commitment to expand investment in the social protection, education, and health sectors to fast-tract national development.
Our correspondent reports that President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, presented the 2023 Budget Proposals of N20.5 trillion to the Joint Session of the National Assembly in Abuja, for consideration.
Describing human capital as the “most critical resource” for national development, Buhari said his administration’s policy thrust was to expand investment in the areas of education, health, and social protection.
Reacting to this, Chairperson of KADSPAC, Ms Jessica Bartholomew, said that increased investment in social protection would fast-track ongoing efforts towards addressing the problem of poverty in the country.
Bartholomew told our correspondent in Kaduna on Friday that social protection had become a handy tool for propelling development in Nigeria.
She explained that KADSPAC, a coalition with membership drawn from civil society organizations and the media, is working with government to strengthen social protection systems in Kaduna state for the delivery of inclusive and shock-responsive social protection programmers.
According to her, social protection has the potential to lift individuals and households from extreme poverty and set them on pathways to resilience from economic shocks.
She however, said that despite the laudable efforts to elevate the financial status of the poor and vulnerable, many of these classes of people were yet to be covered due to paucity of funds.
“The Federal Government commitment to expand investment in the sector is, therefore, very commendable because it demonstrates government’s resolve to lift people out of extreme poverty through social protection programmes”, she added.
She said that to support resource mobilization for social protection in the country and Kaduna state in particular, the group had, in September, inaugurated campaign slogan, tagged “Social Protection to End Poverty 2023”, bearing hashtag “#SP2EP2023”.
She said that the campaign was aimed at securing the continued commitment of Federal and State governments towards sustaining and expanding investment in the delivery of social protection programmes.
According to her, the campaign will raise awareness among Nigerians on the benefits of social protection, as well as position them to demand for it.
The chairperson expressed optimism that the social protection programmes and initiatives, if well implemented, would raise the standard of living of the poor and vulnerable population in the country.
“It will also address the issues of gender and social inclusion for children, persons with disabilities, the aged population, and other marginalized groups in the society,” she said.
Bartholomew also thanked the Federal Government for giving priority to women empowerment programmes for the purpose of harnessing the potentials of Nigerian women