The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, has kick-started the verification of the National Social Register (NSR) in Lagos State.
Communities where the exercise was carried out include Oko Agbon, Adogbo, Migbewhe, Makoko, Sogunro, and Apollo.
The verification, which started simultaneously across the country in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, is expected to last three weeks.
Edu promised to get Nigerians a social register with integrity.
The minister, who spoke after she carried out door-to-door verification of the register, said the federal government was ready to put money into the hands of Nigerians to assist them in their businesses, education of their children, livelihood, and job creation.
A statement yesterday in Abuja by the media aide to the minister, Rasheed Zubair, explained that the verification was an integrity test.
The statement said President Tinubu is determined to touch the lives of the poor and change things for the better.
Edu said those who were captured would be checked to know if they deserve to be on the register or not, while areas that were left out would be covered.
She said: “The Federal Government is going to put money into the households in Nigeria to assist them in doing their businesses, livelihood, education, to be able to pay the fees for their children, improve access to social services, subsidise their daily transportation cost, give them spending power to provide for basic health care needs, job creation, among others.
“For us to do this, we need to verify the National Social Register. The President has approved that we go down to the grassroots and ensure that the National Social Register is a true reflection of truly poor people.
“We need to verify that people on the list live below $1.95 a day and are affected by multi-dimensional poverty and sincerely are those who need help. Those who have no business to be on the register should be removed. Those who need to be on the register should be included.”
She added: “We are doing both community targeting and geographical targeting. We have seen that certain areas of Oko Agbon, Adogbo, Migbewhe, Makoko, Sogunro, and Apollo villages have been covered by the NSR, while certain areas have not been captured. We will capture them.
“The activities we will start from here are being carried out across the country, working with states and communities.
