Jimoh Ibrahim, the senator representing Ondo south, has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the ministry of finance to create food vouchers to address hunger in the country.
Ibrahim made the recommendation at a news conference in Washington DC, attended by Olayemi Cardoso, the CBN governor; Wale Edun, the finance minister, and other government officials.
The businessman said the food vouchers could be funded by collapsing all existing palliative accounts.
He said the idea would reduce poverty, “stabilise the naira,” and “remove 20 million Nigerians suffering from hunger and food insecurity.”
“It will reduce inflation because you are using vouchers as opposed to using cash,” the senator said.
“This is a harmonious policy, and when it’s done, it will help the government to have a direct impact on those who are affected by poverty and food insecurity. So, vouchers for food is very significant.
“Imagine you give N100,000 per month to anybody above 18 years that is really affected by food insecurity and poverty, you see every month they draw down on this in the first one year. It makes more sense than some palliatives that have to do with solar power and things like that.
“It’s very important because when you don’t solve the problem of food and hunger, then you are looking for crisis. This is why we are saying that the economic policy of the central bank and the ministry of finance should be harmonised, and then we can have a clear account to print vouchers for food.”
The politician also believes the initiative would curb the corruption that often trails palliative programmes because “they (the CBN) are not giving money to the state governments” when vouchers are issued.
Nigeria has witnessed a significant number of social unrest in the past year. The latest was the #EndHunger protest which occurred in June.
Earlier in the year, Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, had warned that increasing poverty and hunger are worsening insecurity in the country.
His comments followed the killing of three kidnap victims after communities in the Bwari area council of Abuja were raided in January.
At the just concluded annual meetings, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked the Nigerian government to direct the savings from petrol subsidy removal to support vulnerable households amid the country’s economic hardship.
