The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, has charged the 83 Independent Monitors of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in Delta State to carry out their responsibilities with utmost diligence and sincerity.

Hajiya Farouk gave the charge on Thursday while declaring open, the training/onboarding of the Independent Monitors for the NSIP at the Unity Hall, Government House, Asaba.

The Minister who was represented by Mrs. Memunat Idris, said the Independent Monitors were expected to carry out their tasks with a sense of patriotism as the nation works towards actualizing the vision of President Mohammadu Buhari to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.

She disclosed that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development would not hesitate to disengage any Independent Monitor off the programme if found violating the terms of engagement.

While saying that her Ministry was, also, working with security agencies, EFCC and the ICPC to monitor the programme, Hajiya Farouk warned that any of the Independent Monitors found engaging in any form of malpractice or fraud would be handed over to the security agencies for investigation and possible prosecution.

According to her, the National Social Investment Programme was created by President Mohammadu Buhari in 2016 with the mandate of lifting citizens out of poverty through a number of social interventions which included Job Creation Programme (N-Power), National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCT) and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

“Today (Thursday), we are training 83 Independent Monitors that will monitor the programme at the community level in Delta State.

“The Independent Monitors will be assigned to monitor programme beneficiaries within their locality in schools, households and market clusters with the focus of ensuring that the primary objectives of the programmes are achieved,” the minister added.

Earlier in her welcome address, the state focal person of the National Social Investment Programme, Barr. Bridget Anyafulu said the NSIP was a flagship programme of the federal government designed to provide succour to vulnerable citizens while at the same time, addressing the problem of abject poverty, inequality and unemployment.

Barr. Anyafulu who is, also, an Executive Assistant to Delta State governor on Special Duties, added that the Independent Monitors were vested with the role and responsibility of tracking and assessing the implementation in terms of process outcome of the various components of the NSIP.

She, therefore, urged participants at the training to give their keen and maximum attention to the facilitators throughout the period of the training course, even as she harped on the need for them to shun all forms of malpractices and endeavour to carry out their tasks with the highest sense of patriotism, responsibility, integrity and probity by the time they assumed duty.

In his remarks during the ceremony, the Acting State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Chris Anyabuine told the Independent Monitors that the task before them was a call to duty, adding that they should render accurate report that would be useful to the programme.