Gov Otti Tells EU, UNICEF, ILO That Abia Is Working Hard To Reduce Poverty

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has said that his administration is working relentlessly to reduce poverty to less than 30% in the next one year, despite the state’s expanding population.

Governor Otti stated that, while poverty cannot be eliminated, the government is attempting to alleviate it by establishing an enabling environment for businesses to develop, create jobs, and generally enhance the quality of life for its residents.

The Governor, speaking to a delegation of the European Union and its development partners from UNICEF and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) who visited him on Tuesday, stated that the government would need a reliable database to plan and measure progress in its efforts to combat poverty.

“We may not be able to eliminate poverty but we can alleviate it when we create an enabling environment for businesses to grow and generate employment and pull people out of unemployment.

“So, we want to take people out of poverty genuinely and we want to generate a reliable number. We want to see the number and see the poverty rates go down even if the population is going high. Once you have a reliable database it becomes easy to plan and for you to measure,” the Governor said.

While thanking the team for considering Abia as one of the states selected for partnership, Governor Otti restated that everything his administration had done in the last eight months in office was geared towards genuinely bringing Abians out of poverty.

“I want to see that in the next year with an increase in population, the poverty level will be reduced not just the rate.

“We have struggled with the social register. I am happy you are talking about social registration and social protection. There is nothing as important as data because without data you cannot plan.

“So, we’ll do everything possible to ensure that you do your work and generate reliable data for purposes other than social protection.

“I think the world is looking at multidimensional poverty as you said, which means we are not just interested in poverty as a stand-alone item, but poverty that looks at wealth, access to education, and infrastructure. I think those three are multidimensional poverty that you’re looking at,” Governor Otti said.

He informed the team that Abia was one of the safest in Nigeria, having committed a lot of resources in the security sector with the launch of the security initiative “Operation Crush”, which he noted accounts for improved security in Abia State.

The Governor said that his government was happy to work with the European Union and its partners, describing the cooperation as commendable. He added that Abia would be pleased to see the International Labour Organisation also partner with the state in resolving issues of pension to which the ILO representative responded positively.

In her remarks, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Mrs Blessing Felix said that Abia as of today cannot boast of a reliable social register, adding that the intervention of the team will help the state to come up with an accurate and reliable social support register that has eluded the state for many decades.

Earlier in her speech, the team leader and Programme Manager for Social Protection, European Union, Miss Chioma Osuji, told the Governor that they were in Abia to partner with the state in strengthening its social protection system by coming up with a reliable social register that would serve as a guide in providing the necessary support to addressing the multidimensional poverty rate in the state.

She regretted that many poor Nigerians were yet to be captured on the social register to determine the actual number in need of their services, adding that the whole process will now be digitised to tackle the multidimensional poverty rate in Nigeria.

While noting that Abia was selected among four states to enjoy the partnership of the EU and her partner agencies, the team leader stated that the team would help the state get a social protection policy with all the legislative framework.

In their remarks, the Social Policy Specialist of UNICEF, Nigeria, Mr. Segun Tekun; and the Senior Programme Officer, the International Labour Organization (ILO), Mrs. Chinyere Emeka-Anuma noted that their Agencies are working with the EU to strengthen intervention projects in their chosen locations, pointing out that the team would meet with stakeholders in various sectors of the state to enable them know their areas of interest and what the team can bring to the table.

The wife of the Governor, Mrs. Priscilla Otti, and a host of government functionaries were part of the meeting.