The Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El Rufai has said that Nigeria has the highest number of poor people globally.
El Rufai made the assertions during the launching of the State Social Protection Policy.
He said it was lamentable that programs designed to help the poor in society are usually allocated to important people instead of giving it to those who truly deserve and need it.
El Rufai said such unfortunate actions and mentality has contributed to the many problems Nigeria faces.
“Nigeria is going through serious trying times and it’s no longer news that we have the largest number of poor people than any country in the world.
“Yet, whenever a programme is designed to help the poor and vulnerable, we resort to a slot mentality by allocating this funds to important people instead of giving it to the poor and vulnerable who deserve it.
“This is unfortunate. We must move away from slot mentality and use our social register to offer targeted support to those that truly need it.
“I appeal to all my colleagues, the political elites to please drop this slot mentality and use the social register, so that programmes targeting the vulnerable actually go to the poor and vulnerable.
“When we think of the poor and vulnerable, we must all remember that the welfare of each one of us is bound up in the welfare of all of us,” he said.
