By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
As part of efforts to mitigate the effect of Covid-19, the federal government is in the process of accessing a World Bank loan of $750 million on behalf of the states, to stimulate the local economy and support vulnerable household’s consumption.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed disclosed this at the inauguration of the Federal Steering Committees of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N- CARES) in Abuja.
Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, noted that the federal government has created several windows of interventions as captured in the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) inaugurated by Mr. President, Muhammad Buhari on March 30, 2020.
According to her, the ESP is to among other things, respond robustly and appropriately to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, identify fiscal measures to enhance oil and non-oil government revenues and reduce non-essential spending.
A statement her Special Adviser on Media and Communications on Friday, quoted Ahmed as saying: “To ensure that implementation of the N-CARES is in line with the federal government priorities as outlined in the ESP, the Federal Steering Committee, made up of ministers and permanent secretaries as well as a Technical Committee, made up of directors of key ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) has to be in place.
“The government has carefully selected you as members of the Federal Steering and Technical Committees because of the important role your MDAs play in the recovery of the Nigerian economy as well as the fulfillment of lifting 100 million people out of poverty.”
On the expediency of the inauguration of the committee, the Minister said, “the inauguration of your committee is expedient given the nature of this emergency intervention; Nigeria as the biggest economy in Africa cannot afford to remain in recession; the survival of over 200 million population is germane to all we do and we must address the concerns of the majority of our populace.”
Considering the cause and consequences of civil unrest and COVID-19 in the country, she stated: “Let me remind you that the consequences will be too high if we ignore the root cause of rising civil unrest in our country. We must, therefore, fashion out ways of ensuring that post Covid-19 is not injurious to the Nigerian people and the economy.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, as members of the Federal Steering Committee, while your major role will be to provide an overall policy direction for the implementation of this programme and advise Mr. President appropriately, the Federal Technical Committee will be responsible for the programme oversight, overall guidance, support, coordination, strategic direction, review and approval of the annual work programme as well as budget for the Federal CARES Support Unit (FCSU),” Ahmed also stated.
The members of the Steering Committee of the Nigeria CARES Programme, according to Mrs. Ahmed, are: Hon. Minister of State, Budget and National Planning (BNP) FMFBNP- Chairman; HMS – Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD); HMS – Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI); HMS-Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment (FMLE); HMS – Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv); HMS – Federal Ministry of Education (FME); Permanent Secretary, Budget & National Planning (BNP); Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance (BNP); Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs (MHDMSD); Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR); Executive Director NGF Secretariat; Chairman Federal CARES Technical Team (FMFBNP) – Secretariat.
The Minister read out the terms of reference of the committee, saying, “for your guidance in your assignments, your committee shall: Provide overall strategic and policy guidance for the implementation of the programme; reviewing operation performance annually and provide feedback to government at both federal and state levels; and garnering support for the operation as further specified in the operations manual.”
Members of the Federal Technical Committee include Director Economic Growth (BNP) FMFBNP – Chairman; Director-Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development (FMARD); Director-Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR); Director-Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment (FMITI); Director-Ministry of Humanitarian, Disaster Management & Soc. Dev. (MHDMSD); Director-Federal Ministry of Education (FME); Director-Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv); Director-Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (FMWA); Director-Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment (FMLE); Director-International Economic Relation Department (IERD) FMFBNP.
Others are, Director, Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS); Director-Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) Secretariat; Assistant Director-Economic Growth Department (BNP) FMFBNP; and Federal CARES Support Unit to serve as the Secretariat.
