While speaking to reporters at the State House, Abuja on Thursday, she said it is “elitist” to assume that the N5,000 monthly national cash transfer to vulnerable households is insignificant.
In her words ;
“If you look at the people that you are taking this intervention to, N5,000 means a lot to them because these are poor and vulnerable households and it changes their status,” said the minister, “but for you and me, N5,000 is not even enough for us to buy recharge card, that’s the difference. But for these poor people in the communities, you have seen, they were able to save out of that N5,000.
When people say N5000 does not save people, that is an elitist statement, honestly because we’ve had causes to go to the field, and we have seen these people that when you give them this N5,000, they cried and shed tears because they’ve never seen N5,000 it in their lives. So, it goes a long way, it changes their status and by that, it lifts them from one stage to another.”