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Organisational Structure In order to ensure an effective implementation of the scheme’s objectives an organisational structure has been outlined. The National Poverty Eradication Council (NAPEC) is the apex organ for policy formulation, coordination, monitoring and review of all poverty eradication activities in the country. President Obasanjo is the chairman of the organ while Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is the vice chairman. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation is the secretary of the organ, while 13 ministers whose ministries are involved in poverty alleviation activities are members. The participating ministries in the scheme are those of agriculture and rural development, education, works and housing, women affairs and youth development, industry, science and technology, solid minerals development, water resources, health, power and steel, employment labour and productivity, environment and finance. The Chief Economic Adviser to the President and the National Coordinator of NAPEP are also members of the council. The second most important organ in the structure of NAPEP is the National Assessment and Evaluation Committee. This committee, which serves as a forum for regular monitoring of the activities of NAPEP is chaired by the Vice-president, and draws membership from representatives of the Economic Policy Coordination Committee (EPCC), the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS), the National Planning Commission, Non Governmental Organisations, the World Bank (Nigeria), the United Nations Development Programme (Nigeria) and the European Union (Nigeria). The National Planning Commission is the secretariat of the council. The third organ is the National Coordination Committee, which is chaired by the Federal Coordinator of Programmes, is saddled with the task of executing the directives of the National Poverty Eradication Council and ensuring that activities of ministries and agencies involved in the poverty alleviation programme are coordinated. The committee also reports to the council, updates on poverty alleviation efforts in the country. Members of this committee are drawn from representatives of the ministries, parastatals and agencies participating in NAPEP who should not be below the rank of director, president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, president of the Nigerian Labour Congress, president of the Manufactures’ Association of Nigeria. Others are the president of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), President of the National Association of Small Scale Industries, president of the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association, representatives of registered political parties and the permanent secretary of the National Poverty Alleviation Programme who will serve as the secretary of the committee. There are also state coordination committees in all the 36 states in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The state coordinating committees have chairmen appointed by the president. Similarly, local government monitoring committees have been established in all the 774 local government areas in the country. The National Poverty Eradication Programme is not under any ministry, parastatal or agency, but these bodies are the major executors of its programmes. NAPEP in turn also periodically executes what is called intervention projects to complement the efforts of ministries and agencies that involved in poverty alleviation initiatives. Funding of NAPEP The Poverty Eradication Fund (PEF) which is administered by the National Poverty Eradication Council directly funds the National Poverty Eradication Programme. However, all poverty alleviation programmes originally budgeted for by participating ministries will continue to be funded from those budgetary provisions under the supervision of NAPEC. NAPEP is also funded from contributions given to it by state and local governments, the private sector and special deductions from the Consolidated Fund of the Federal Government. It also gets donations from international donor agencies such as the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the European Union, the Department for International Development, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, and the German Technical Assistance. When NAPEP came on stream in January 2001, it was given a take-off grant of N6 billion. This money was used to establish NAPEP structures in 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and 744 local government councils. Part of the money was also used in the NAPEP employment generation intervention which translated to the training of 100,000 youths, attaching 50,000 unemployed graduates in various places of work, training of over 5000 people in tailoring and fashion design, and the establishment of rural telephone networks in 125 local government areas. Other uses to which the money was put include the delivery of the delivery of the KEKE-NAPEP three-wheeler vehicle project involving 2000 units in all the state capitals of Nigeria, the establishment of 147 youth information centers across the senatorial districts, the delivery of informal micro credit ranging from N10,000 to N50,000 to 10,000 beneficiaries most of whom were women, and so on.
NAPEP interventions in Poverty Alleviation From January 2001, NAPEP has intervened in a number of projects. So far about 140,000 youths have been trained in more than 190 practical hand-on trades over a period of three months. Every trainee in this intervention project was paid N3,000 per month while N3,500 was paid to each trainer. The training programme was packaged with the understanding that that beneficiaries would subsequently set up their own businesses in line with the skills they have acquired. To actualize this, 5,000 beneficiaries were resettled with assorted tailoring and fashion design equipment. Also under the Mandatory Attachment Programme for unemployed graduates, 40,000 beneficiaries were attached in 2001 each of whom was paid a monthly stipend of N10,000. The installation of equipment under the Rural Telephone Project is currently in progress, while the KEKE-NAPEP project is currently being vigorously implemented. The project offers:
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