The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution and experts met Wednesday in Abuja to assess the impact of social intervention programme on peace and development in the country.
Recall that shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in 2015, he established the National Social Investments Programmes (NSIP) to tackle poverty and hunger across the country.
The programmes include the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSF), the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programme, the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) and the N-Power Initiative.
In his remark, while declaring the two-day experts roundtable event open, the Director General of IPCR, Dr. Bakut Bakut said the programmes under the NSIP is geared towards ensuring a more equitable distribution of resources to vulnerable populations, including children, youth and women.
He said that the roundtable was an opportunity for invited experts, the baseline survey team and participants to share knowledge and further interrogate on the subject matter.
“I have no doubt in my mind, that the experts and participants views as well as the findings of the research team from the field will revealed how far the programme has impacted on peace and development in Nigeria.
The head of Directorate of Research and Policy Analysis of IPCR, Dr. Joseph Ochogwu, said that the nation must find ways of fighting poverty, especially at this time with frequent and recurrent violent conflicts.
Calling on all lovers of peace to support the directorate, Dr. Ochogwu, noted that peace is a key component of development, adding, “conflict-ridden communities are disrupted due to the unreliable social services and prevalence of social problems such as poverty, hunger and inequality.
“It is on this premise that the national social investment programme of the federal government is aimed at reduction of poverty and hunger in the country. It is in realization of this that the directorate embarked on a research to ascertain the impact of the social intervention programme on peace and development.”
Pointing out that peace and development is threatened by insecurity and violence, Ochogwu disclosed that at the IPCR, “we are mandated to promote peace and security within Nigeria and Africa.”
Appreciating IPCR for the collaboration in his goodwill message, the Special Assistant to the President on National social investment, Dr. Mohammed Nasir Mahmoud, said that the programme is to tackle poverty in the country.
Others who spoke emphasized the need to tackle poverty and insecurity in the country.
