Nigeria Government commissions 46 Independent monitors in Ebonyi State

The Nigerian Government has distributed engagement letters and devices to Independent Monitors in the South-eastern part of the country.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs,  Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq distributed the tablets and issued the letters of engagement in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

Service delivery
Represented by the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr Raphael Obi, the Minister reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian Government in ensuring that the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP), were adequately monitored for effective service delivery.

The Minister urged the Independent Monitors to diligently report on the various social investment programmes targeted at lifting vulnerable Nigerians out of poverty in line with President Muhammadu Buhari aspirations.

“Today I am here to flag off the distribution of engagement letters and devices for the trained Independent Monitors in Ebonyi  State. These devices are equipped with an application that will be used to report on monitoring activities of the trained Independent Monitors.

“All devices to be used for monitoring the programme are locally made in Nigeria and the monitoring Application was designed by an indigenous Company.

“The Application, which we call the Social Investment Management Information System (SIMIS), is a mobile and web-based Application designed for Monitoring the National Social Investment Programme,” the Minister explained.

The Independent Monitors will follow up on government’s Social Investment Programmes including  N-POWER, National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

Each Independent monitor will  be paid a monthly stipend of N30,000 and will be expected to meet up to 80% of their deliverables monthly to be eligible for their stipend.

The Ebonyi State Governor who was represented by the Commissioner, Ministry of Human Capital Development Ann Abigwe applauded the Minister for the  social investment programmes currently in operation in the State.

Abigwe who is also the State Focal Person on NSIP, stated that the programmes had impacted tremendously on the lives of the vulnerable in the State.

She urged the Independent Monitors to remain committed  and ensure accurate data collation in the discharge of their duties.

Mercy Chukwudiebere