Temitope Ajayi writes that the Post-Covid-19 funds released to the States in December, 2023 was aimed at cushioning the economic and social shocks faced by vulnerable people nationwide contrary to the recent art of misrepresentation by rights activist and lawyer, Mr Femi Falana.
There is a viral video where human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi
Falana, made allusion to the sum of N135 billion given to the 36 states in
December 2023 at a memorial event in honour of Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti.
It is important to state here that Falana has a strong
reputation for exaggerations and embellishments. What the Lagos lawyer rendered
in that trending video was total misrepresentation of facts. He also did not
tell his audience the real reason the said amount was released to the States
under the World Bank-funded NG-CARES Programme.
Contrary to the wrong impression of wasteful and frivolous
spending being conveyed to the public by Falana, it should be stressed that it
is the Lagos lawyer who needs to get himself acquainted with the issue in
contention.
Here are the facts:
The whole global economy is still reeling from the
after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic with the attendant disruptions to the
global supply chain, which the world is yet to fully recover from.
Covid-19 exacerbated
poverty around the world, especially as a result of loss of livelihoods
in rural communities and among the urban poor.
Post-Covid-19, the World Health Organisation and World Bank
are still supporting countries to strengthen their health systems and emergency
preparedness so nations can be in much better position to deal with other
public health emergencies that may occur in future. Just last year, there was
an outbreak of Diphtheria, monkeypox, and Lassa Fever in more than 20 states in
Nigeria that government effectively contained.
In a bid to further manage the aftermath of Covid-19 in line
with the framework of the WHO and the World Bank, the Federal Government, in
December 2023, disbursed N135.4 billion to the states following Independent
Assessment of results achieved under the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic
Stimulus Programme.
The money, which Falana attempted to scandalise in the viral
video, was released to address social and economic crisis created by Covid-19.
This is not peculiar to Nigeria. Every
country in the world today is still dealing with many socio-economic
problems caused by Covid-19.
The aim of the NG-CARES Programme backed by World Bank,
which is being implemented in all the 36 States and the Federal Capital
Territory, is to mitigate the economic and social shocks faced by vulnerable
people, who are yet to get their livelihoods back as a result of the lockdown
occasioned by the pandemic.
The project is structured as one that delivers results. Only
states that have implemented according to laid-down procedures prescribed in
the Financing Agreement, the Funds Release Policy, and the Independent
Verification Agent Protocol get reimbursement for the money already spent.
Therefore, the money Falana mentioned with the intent to
ridicule the Federal Government and incite the public against the government
and President Tinubu was disbursed based on the results achieved by the States
and FCT in their efforts at supporting poor and vulnerable Nigerians under the
NG-CARES Programme.
The “top three best performing states in the Second Round of Assessment are Nasarawa,
which got N13,697,828,496.96, Cross River N10,944,747,818.84 and Zamfara
N10,231,055,267.82,” according to NG-CARES National Coordinator, Abdulkarim
Obaje, in a statement.
While government needs critics as watchdogs for
accountability and to engender more transparency in the management of public
affairs and finance, that sacred duty should not be left in the hands of those
who have elevated half-truths and embellishments as their article of trade.
Criticisms should be constructive and fact-based.
-Ajayi is Media Assistant to President Bola Tinubu
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