‘N5,000 monthly stipend from Nigerian govt means a lot to poor Nigerians,’ Humanitarian Affairs minister, Farouq

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, said on Thursday the N5,000 monthly stipend from the Federal Government brought smiles to the faces of vulnerable Nigerians.

The minister disclosed this to State House correspondents after a meeting in Abuja.

She was responding to claims in some quarters that the stipend which was introduced by the federal government in 2016 was insignificant.

Farouq said: “If you look at the people that you are taking this intervention to, N5,000 means a lot to them because these are poor and vulnerable households and it changes their status. But for you and me, N5,000 is not even enough for us to buy recharge card, that’s the difference.

“But for these poor people in the communities, you have seen, they were able to save out of that N5,000.

Read also: FG speaks on alleged extortion, bullying of beneficiaries of N5,000 monthly stipend

“When people say N5000 does not save people, that is an elitist statement, honestly because we have had causes to go to the field, and we have seen these people that when you give them this N5,000, they cried and shed tears because they’ve never seen N5,000 it in their lives.

“So, it goes a long way, it changes their status and by that, it lifts them from one stage to another.”

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