The National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer of the
AUD-NEPAD/APRM, Princess Gloria Akobundu has called for the support of
the National Assembly for more poverty alleviation programmes to be
domiciled in the agency.
She said, having more
of such programmes will strengthen the Agency to execute its mandate of
combating poverty across the country.
She made
the call when she appeared before the joint Senate and House of
Representatives’ Committees of Integration and Cooperation in Africa, to
defend the agency’s 2021 budget.
The committee is co-chaired by Senator Chimaroke Nnamani and Rep. Mohammed Bago.
“My
plea to this respected House, you gave me the job to overseeing us and
seeing us perform with the little or nothing we had in the past.
“But
with your commitment to ensuring that NEPAD succeeds and will move this
country forward, we want to plead that you look into our budget and
assist us because it’s very lean.
“Remember
before, there something like Keke-Napep to alleviate poverty, so some of
these poverty alleviation programmes should be domiciled in NEPAD so
that we can be able to execute them and cow back to give you a proper
update of what we have done,” she said.
Akobundu
noted that, looking at the mandate of the agency which she said is
poverty eradication and the challenges facing the generation where of
teeming youths especially at the rural area there is the need for the
agency to be strengthened.
She lamentes that,
COVID-19 has presented a lot of challenges which she said, NEPAD is
doing alot to encourage the people especially the women at the rural
communities who were known for poverty eradication.
In
his remarks, chairman, House Committee on Integration and Cooperation
in Africa, Rep. Umar Bago observed that the Committee had its recent
oversight function to NEPAD ans have seen the performance.
“We
have gone on oversight and during the oversight, we have seen their
performance. I think we have briefed you accordingly, and I think based
on the prevailing situation it will also be very wise for them to make
their inputs for 2021,” he urged.
