The new administration had earlier promised to have the Youth and unemployed in mind and have already started working in that direction as the Federal government has declared that there are ongoing plans to implement one of its campaign promises that it will pay N5000 each to the poorest Nigerians across the country.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who disclosed this noted that government is currently evaluating the best ways to collapse existing cash transfer and social welfare schemes to ensure consistency and alignment.

“Once this is completed, we will implement the first phase of this program, using recognized identification platforms and transparent payment solutions”, he said.

Osinbajo who disclosed this at the 10th Year Anniversary Lecture of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Ogun State on Saturday also said the federal government has identified the weak transmission grid, which prevents the wheeling of more than 5,000MW as a gridlock to be removed.

Leadership reports that he said the payment of N5000 each to poor Nigerians was necessary because “we cannot talk about the economy of the future without addressing how we move people out of poverty.

“One of the most striking promises we made during the campaign was the payment of Five Thousand Naira to the poorest Nigerians across the country”, he noted.

Osinbajo observed that the level of poverty explains much of the Nigerian situation because it affects all aspects of life, including why over a million Nigerians die yearly of preventable diseases.

“It reflects in our alarming rates of infant mortality and maternal deaths at childbirth. It also tells why so many children of school age are out of school and why so many adults lack access to healthcare and proper vocational training; why, in effect, they are less efficient and less productive at work”, Osinbajo noted.

Janeth J