Buhari signs social investment programmes bill into law – 8 years after NPower kicked off
President Muhammadu Buhari has officially enacted the National Social Investment Programme Agency Bill, according to a statement by his aide, Bashir Ahmad. The President signed the bill into law on Monday after requesting its passage in November 2022.
The National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) was established in 2015 to ensure the fair distribution of resources among vulnerable groups, including children, youth, and women. It encompasses several initiatives, namely:
- N-Power Programme: Designed to enhance the skills and promote entrepreneurship among the youth.
- Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP): Aims to address the challenges of accessing credit facilities by providing soft loans through initiatives such as Trader Moni, Market Moni, and Farmer Moni.
- National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP): Seeks to provide one nutritious meal per day to pupils in public primary schools, thereby increasing school enrollment and reducing malnutrition rates.
- Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programme: Offers cash transfers as grants to vulnerable households.
Additionally, President Buhari signed seven other bills into law. These include the National Senior Secondary Education Bill, which establishes a commission to set standards for senior secondary education and manage the National Senior Secondary Education Fund. The Chartered Institute of Power Engineers of Nigeria Bill establishes the Chartered Institute of Power Engineers of Nigeria and sets the criteria for individuals aspiring to become chartered power engineers.
The other bills signed into law by President Buhari are the Federal University of Health Sciences Ila-Orangun (Establishment) Bill, the Federal University of Health Sciences, Azare (Establishment) Bill, the Chartered Institute of Development Studies and Administration of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, the Federal Institute of Industrial Research (Establishment) Bill, and the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria Bill.
