By Praise Chinecherem
The poor and vulnerable persons in Anambra State will soon smile following plans by State government to launch its Social Protection Policy in January, 2023.
Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Ms. Chiamaka Nnake disclosed this in Awka during a one-day stakeholders’ validation of draft Anambra State Social Protection Policy document in partnership with Africa Network For Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ).
Social Protection Policy is a government programs intended to help individuals and societies to manage risk and volatility, protect them from poverty and inequality, and help them to access economic opportunity.
She said the workshop was targeted at rallying support and inputs from various stakeholders involved in social protection to ensure robust, holistic and implementable policy.
She said, “The policy was approved at the National level sometimes last month. This is a draft we’re trying to domesticate to reflect Anambra situation using social protection policy which the ministry has come up with.
“We expect that the policy will be a true reflection of all relevant stakeholders in the state. As soon as we’re done, we’ll transmit it to the executive for approval. We expect it to be ready by second week of January.
“We still have windows after today to take as much as feed backs. We want it to be holistic and true reflection of the minds of the people to social protection issues in the state.”
Earlier, Deputy Executive Director, Africa Network For Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Mr. Leo Atakpu said the project was his organization’s contribution to support government efforts in five states in tackling poverty in Nigeria.
He regretted recent accusations and counter accusations among various tiers of governments following alarming statistics from National Bureau of Statistics revealing that 133million Nigerians living in poverty.
He said, “While we would not want to be dragged into that controversy, it’s important to note that the struggle to lift more citizens out of extreme poverty is an indictment on successive and current Nigerian governments which have mismanaged nation’s vast resources over the years.
“For us in ANEEJ, it’s a wake up call for all tiers of governments in Nigeria to take deliberate steps by putting the right policies in place to address poverty crisis at the national and sub-national levels.
“Blame trading by various tiers of governments will certainly not help. Other stakeholders such as the private sector and civil society must also play some key roles in addressing the poverty crisis.”
Atakpu commended state government and key stakeholders’ efforts in packaging the policy, expressing optimism that the meeting would produce final document to be signed by the Governor in the interest of the poor and vulnerable.
Chairman, Civil Society Organizations in the state, Prince Chris Azor described the policy as milestone in good governance, revealing that Anambra is the first state in the Southeast to domesticate the policy.
He urged government to take the project further by moving it from policy to legislation.
“We’re grateful to government and other partners. Let’s not stop here. We’ll beat our chest in future that we’re part of the success story. Posterity will not forget us,” he added.
