What should Nigerians expect from Betta Edu as Nigeria’s incoming Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation?
Development Diaries reports that Edu, a medical doctor and a health policy and management expert, is one of President Bola Tinubu’s 46 ministerial nominees recently cleared by the country’s senate.
Edu’s core responsibility at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation includes coordination of all matters relating to humanitarian challenges, disasters, and social development in Africa’s most populous country.
High levels of malnutrition and food insecurity are some of the prominent challenges Nigeria is faced with.
These challenges, as noted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria, affect tens of millions of Nigerians.
Poverty is the cause of many of the humanitarian needs in Nigeria, and things could even get worse in the next decade as a result of environmental and societal crises, including climate change, high food and essential commodity costs, and a growing population.
In 2022, 4.4 million people were impacted by Nigeria’s worst floods in more than 20 years. The flooding triggered the cholera epidemic that killed 390 citizens in Borno State alone; and the humanitarian crisis in the three states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe has not abated.
Figures from OCHA also show that more than two million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria are unable to return to their homes.
The World Bank, in June 2023, disclosed that 7.1 million more Nigerians will be pushed into poverty if properly targeted measures are not taken to manage the impact of fuel subsidy removal.
Indeed, there is a grave need for Nigeria and its development partners to holistically address the country’s humanitarian crises.
In addressing these challenges, the incoming minister must work to implement policies in line with the country’s National Development Plan (NDP) 2021–2025, which aims to lift 35 million people out of poverty by 2025.
Nigeria would make substantial progress towards achieving this overarching goal through effective and expanded social-protection initiatives.
Photo source: Betta Edu
