Nigeria: “Massive undertaking that can help the development of the country to move forward.”

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Published Jun 22, 2024

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Moustapha Malick Fall, said the UN is aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, supporting the government on a “massive undertaking that can help the development of the country to move forward.”
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The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Moustapha Malick Fall, today (14 Jun) said the UN is aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, supporting the government on a “massive undertaking that can help the development of the country to move forward.”

Briefing journalists in New York on the situation in the country, Fall said, “the reform that has been taken has come with courageous measures,” including an emphasis on cash transfers instead of subsidies.

He said subsidies were “not impacting very much in the well-being of the people of Nigeria, because sometimes we subsidize fuel, you subsidize food prices, and then it goes to the neighbour country. And because of the depreciation of the naira, maybe dealers would make much better margin when they go to those things.”

The resident Coordinator explained that a new loan from the World Bank will allow the government “to create what we call a kind of increased and consolidated safety net.”

He noted that part of the loan, 800 million US dollars, “will go to cash transfer program, which will enable the government to increase the number of households that are benefiting from the social support from 3 million households to 15 million households.”

On the security situation, Fall said, “what we have seen now is increased commitment from the government to protect the IDP, but not to protect them only in terms of security. But also, to provide them with livelihood to put a return policy or a reintegration policy or a resettlement policy.”

He noted that the conflict with Boko Haram started in 2009, with high levels of displacement in 2015 and 2016 and “you have people who have been living in those IDP site, I mean, for like nine years solely depending on humanitarian assistance.”

Nigeria’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ is a comprehensive 8-point plan to tackle poverty in Nigeria through sustainable development and improved living standards, focusing on food security, poverty alleviation, economic growth, job creation and access to capital, inclusivity, the rule of law, and the fight against corruption.