From March 4th to 6th, 2014, The Ministry of Finance ran the “budget jam”; an online interactive session where they welcomed Nigerian Youth to discuss the 2014 budget and suggest new investment areas. This is a revised excerpt of a post sent in by Uzoma Nwankwo to the #budget2014jam.
“Budget 2014 Jam: The Youth Engage Sign up here .. I signed up, lets put & of poor on agenda.
— Uzoma Nwankwo ()
In January 2012 the Federal Government partially removed subsidies on petroleum products. The accrued savings are shared annually among the three tiers of government (Federal, State and Local). The Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) was established to invest these savings to “better the lives of ordinary Nigerians” through, provision of social safety net programmes and transport infrastructure.
In 2014, SURE-P will re-invest a total of 268.37 billion Nigerian Naira ($1.68 billion). 27.32 billion Nigerian Naira ($170.8 million) of this will be invested in health related social safety nets for Nigeria’s poor through the “Saving One Million Lives Initiative”. The health programmes to benefit include: Maternal & Child Health, HIV/AIDS, Polio Eradication, Non communicable Diseases-Stroke. This is a “healthy” development, which shows that the Federal Government recognises the link between disease and poverty
There is strong association between disease and poverty. Investment in disease elimination will alleviate poverty.
— Uzoma Nwankwo ()
Unfortunately, the Government has missed a major opportunity to accelerate the fight against poverty by not allocating SURE-P funds for the control and elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). Perhaps the board of SURE-P, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy (CME) and Minister of Finance; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala may wish to know NTDs are worth investing in.
Hoping will include on SURE-P investments portfolio. “Quick win” for poor village dwellers.
— Uzoma Nwankwo ()
NTDs are a group of parasitic and bacterial infections that are the most common infections of the world’s poor. Nigeria has the highest burden of NTDs in the African continent. In fact, they are so common that we are likely to have everyday encounters with individuals affected by one or more NTDs.
Have you ever seen a child leading an older blind man (possibly caused by River blindness or Blinding Trachoma) begging on the streets for alms? Or an individual with huge disfigured limbs from elephantiasis? Are you aware of the painful plight of our children who pass blood in urine from bilharzias infection causing ridicule from society; who call them “menstruating boys”?
Only recently the current administration gave the final push to ensure Nigeria achieved a feat that was almost unthinkable in the 1980s; eliminating Guinea worm Disease (an NTD). Nigeria had the most cases globally at the time, but succeeded in eliminating GWD before many other countries. The right thing to do is to sustain this momentum on other NTDs.
As a country we cannot just watch and see our citizens suffer from debilitating conditions that are completely preventable, especially when inexpensive strategies exist to tackle these NTDs. The Federal Government should know that they have the unique decision making power that can enable Nigeria to significantly reduce its NTDs burden within five years.
I look at the SURE-P funds and I see hope for the common man. We stand a chance for success if the CME, the go-getter that she is, can target these NTDs for elimination as a true testament of the Government’s commitment to provide a social safety net for the poor. SURE-P targeted re-investments would make a monumental difference in the lives of all Nigerians burdened by NTDs. The opportunity to invest in the NTDs still exists, SURE-P need not wait until 2015 to rescue poor Nigerians from the cycle of poverty and disease.