N5,000 unemployment benefit starts in 2016
The Federal Government will start paying the promised N5,000 monthly allowance to 25 million unemployed youths in the country from 2016, reports say.
The government is said to have begun plans to ensure that the payment starts soon, Punch reports citing a top government official.
“You know that if the scheme is left open-ended, even Nigerians, who are employed and are by no means vulnerable, will still struggle to benefit from it,” the source said.
“You also know that if not properly handled, politicians will hijack the scheme and it will become a means of settling their constituents, whether they qualify to benefit from it or not. This is why the government will come up with data on the beneficiaries very soon,” the source added.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s media aide, Laolu Akande also reportedly confirmed that work was ongoing on the identification of beneficiaries.
“Work is ongoing on various aspects of the implementation of that social investment plan, including the identification of those that will benefit from it. Very soon, we shall be concluding work on that; that is a very important aspect of the programme,”Akande said.
“The plan of the government is to start as much as possible in the area of social investment, and conditional cash transfer is part of it. It is the plan of the government to explore how to start this with the 2016 budget,” he added.
The promise to pay the unemployment allowance was made by the APC during the 2015 general election campaigns.
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