N5,000 unemployment benefit starts in 2016


The Federal Government has started the process of fulfilling its promise to pay N5,000 monthly allowance to 25 million unemployed youths in the country with 2016 as the take-off date, The PUNCH investigation has revealed.
The All Progressives Congress, which defeated the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the March 28 presidential election, had promised during its campaign that if elected to the central government, it would pay N5,000 monthly to 25 million jobless youths as well as introduce a free school feeding programme.
A motion to compel the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to fulfil the campaign promise of paying the unemployed youths was recently rejected in the Senate.
Our correspondents learnt on Monday that the Federal Government had, however, commenced plans to start the payment of the allowance while it had also taken steps to capture the free school feeding programme in the 2016 budget. It was further learnt that the government had saddled some officials with the task of ascertaining the number of the unemployed youths, who would benefit from the scheme.
A top government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday, told one of our correspondents that the compilation of data was necessary in order to ensure that the programme was not sabotaged. The source said, “You know that if the scheme is left open-ended, even Nigerians, who are employed and are by no means vulnerable, will still struggle to benefit from it.
“You also know that if not properly handled, politicians will hijack the scheme and it will become a means of settling their constituents, whether they qualify to benefit from it or not. This is why the government will come up with data on the beneficiaries very soon.” The source added that the fund meant for the scheme would be built into the 2016 budget. He explained that it was only when a decision had been reached on the number of people that would benefit from the scheme that the government would have an idea of how much it would spend on the programme. He agreed that as a result of the process to get ready the 2016 budget and passed it into law, the scheme might not take off either in January or February, 2016.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice- President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, confirmed that work was ongoing on the identification of beneficiaries, saying it was the desire of government to ensure the commencement of the programme in 2016. Akande stated, “Work is ongoing on various aspects of the implementation of that social investment plan, including the identification of those that will benefit from it. Very soon, we shall be concluding work on that; that is a very important aspect of the programme. “The plan of the government is to start as much as possible in the area of social investment, and conditional cash transfer is part of it. “It is the plan of the government to explore how to start this with the 2016 budget.” Cash transfer scheme to gulp N125bn monthly Investigations at the Ministry of Finance as well as that of Budget and National Planning showed that the process for the payment of the allowance to the unemployed had started with the compilation of the 2016 budget.
According to analysis, the cash transfer programme, when fully implemented, will cost the Federal Government N125bn monthly and a total sum of N1.5tr annually. This is amidst dwindling oil price, which has led to a reduction in government revenue by about 50 per cent. This development has led to the government recording fiscal deficit of about N676.47bn within the first six months of 2015, according to statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Top government officials, involved in the preparation of the budget, confided in one of our correspondents that both initiatives had been identified as part of the six priority programmes that would be implemented under the social development sector of the economy. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said apart from the cash transfer and school feeding programme, other social protection and welfare schemes were being planned to take care of Internally Displaced Persons.
Details of the initiative for IDPs were still sketchy as of the time of filing this report. The official said, “We have started working on the budget since September this year at the Ministry of Budget and Planning. “Since the ministry is the one coordinating the plans of government, what we did was to identify six priority programmes by pillars which have already been communicated to all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government. “So while preparing the medium term plan, what we did was to look at the manifesto of the APC and prepare our plan based on what its campaign promises were to Nigerians before the elections. “And since social development is a key aspect of its campaign, we identified social protection schemes such as the conditional cash transfer and the school feeding programme as key to the programmes for 2016.” The spokesman for the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mr. Salisu Haiba, could not be reached for comments as calls and text messages put to his number did not connect as of the time of filing this report. Shortly after the Senate shot down a motion meant to compel Buhari to fulfil the promise, the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, had appealed to the ruling party not to renege on its campaign promise of paying N5,000 to the 25 million unemployed youths. She also urged the party to fulfil its promise of giving schoolchildren one free meal a day. Copyright PUNCH.

I'm ashamed of the OP.

Are you for real, is it that we are so soaked in poverty that we can't think straight again, what will 5k do for you as an unemployed person. They should rather put policies in place and initiate good and innovative skill acquisition scheme that will real wealth.


I pray that I don't get a share of the paltry sum that is not enough for my monthly data bundle.

:oWat cn 5k buy in d market, make give us work ooooo

Happy days ahead because of 5k

God help u!

Disgusting talk. This Op is high on sawdust.

Hey wailers, when are you going to be appreciative. When this administration was campaigning with this promise, you guys kept quiet, I could remember vividly that when a motion was raised to kick against this same promise you wailers were like WTF, after all they were the one who said that themselves, apc is a propagandist party, bla bla bla. Now since 1960 no government had managed to provide us a tangible employment scheme or had our employment rate increase, but now someone now says pending the time I will provide you job, take this #5000 per month (without having to do any work) yet you guys are hear talking as if it was this administration that solely worsen the condition of this country. Can someone just tell me when an administration had plan to do or done this in the history of our country. Come off it, let's be appreciative for once. And mind you in the most expensive part of this country, if wisely spent, #5000 can last you a week for food stuffs, so that means you have three weeks to plan for and not four. C'mon make use of your brains.

Can that buy Zahara Buhari pant made by sara?

Tell me those promises government have made and fulfilled?

If you know someone who is seeking a job as a cleaner pls let them send their name,gender,location,age and phone number to rita.b@smartcleaning-ng.com

Op you might just be right , but is not enough to be happy, like Realli excited

Buhari for Life!!!


BTW; IF you are APC member and Dont like this Idea You need to be flogged and burn your Voters Card!

Good move.....Wailers will still find fault in this scheme.

Rather than give a meagre sum of 5000 naira to the unemployed graduates while not create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive as well as encouraging foreign direct investment. Not forgetting agriculture. Moreover this venture is not sustainable.

You go see wen person wey get job go by himself resign, sake of say him wan dey collect 5k.

5000 kini.... Wat problem can that one solve... and some people are Happy about it... smh.... God help Us o....

Sharing 5k to the youths can never solve the problem of the youths. We need basic social amenities, light, road, infrastructure and am enabling business environment. The youths of this country have long forgotten that these our useless leaders only care about themselves and their children. Giving 5k monthly will just aggravate nigerias condition. Dont give us fish, teach us how to catch the fish.

Thosee claiming 5k is too much may be same people depending on their parents and relatives for money; the truth is that most of this guys that have upto 5k with them right now

U people that are here condemning this move most of u don't make 5k in a month instead, u go about begging, now some body wants to dash u dat 5k for free and save u the embarrassments u normally go through each time u go to beg.Now u are here making mouth as if u have jobs. If u need skill acquisition then go learn one for ur self u don't need to break the bank b4 u do that Ok!!! There are lots of tailors, mechanics, carpenters etc looking for apprentice go and enrol ur self in one if u so desire it and even if u have a job since is ur dreams and aspirations fulfill them. The government is doing this pending when they finally create enabling environment for businesses or jobs to thrive and u pple are here condemning it and who told u pple that our highly ambitious graduates will depend on that, go out and see graduates doing all kinds of jobs learning every thing they can lay their hands on yet u pple say they want to depend on 5k. Jst because some one jst welcomed the development later it is still u pple that will say other countries are doing it now they want to represent it here u pple are using ur over rated self to truncate it.

I started reading then i saw 25mllion unemployed youth and i felt really sick

onyegwu:
U people that are here condemning this move most of u don't make 5k in a month instead, u go about begging, now some body wants to dash u dat 5k for free and save u the embarrassments u normally go through each time u go to beg.Now u are here making mouth as if u have jobs. If u need skill acquisition then go learn one for ur self u don't need to break the bank b4 u do that Ok!!! There are lots of tailors, mechanics, carpenters etc looking for apprentice go and enrol ur self in one if u so desire it and even if u have a job since is ur dreams and aspirations fulfill them. The government is doing this pending when they finally create enabling environment for businesses or jobs to thrive and u pple are here condemning it and who told u pple that our highly ambitious graduates will depend on that, go out and see graduates doing all kinds of jobs learning every thing they can lay their hands on yet u pple say they want to depend on 5k. Jst because some one jst welcomed the development later it is still u pple that will say other countries are doing it now they want to represent it here u pple are using ur over rated self to truncate it.

tank u o, help me tell them oo. It was USA now, it would have been a welcomed development, but since it is here in Nigeria we see it as bad thing. No wonder made in 9ja no dey sell

OP This Is Not So Much Of A Happy News. How Do You Think 5K Will Change The Life Of An Unemployed?
With The Present Economic Dispensation Will That Money Be Enough For Transportation?