By Saminu Ibrahim
The Federal Government has called on Nigerians and relevant stakeholders to strengthen efforts to protect vulnerable persons and promote peace through sustainable poverty reduction.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard M. Doro, made the call on Saturday during the commemoration of the 2026 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in Abuja.
The event, held under the theme, “United for Peace and Human Rights: Safe Homes for All,” emphasised the need for collective action to address poverty, protect human rights and ensure access to safe and affordable housing.
Doro said the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 11 committed countries to ending poverty in all its forms and ensuring access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services.
He noted that with only four years remaining to achieve the 2030 SDGs Agenda, Nigeria must critically assess its progress and intensify efforts to meet the targets.
“Let’s ask ourselves honestly how far we have gone and what more is to be done,” the minister said.
He explained that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda was driving efforts to reduce poverty through the ministry’s One Humanitarian One Poverty Reduction Strategy (OHOPRS), which adopts a multidimensional approach involving government institutions and other stakeholders.
According to him, poverty reduction is essential to achieving lasting peace and stability in the country.
“A fight against poverty is a fight for peace,” he said.
The minister explained that the ministry’s responsibility was twofold: protecting vulnerable Nigerians in the present and creating opportunities for them to become resilient and economically independent in the future.
“Our task in the ministry is twofold: to protect Nigerians who are vulnerable today and to open pathways that make them resilient and economically independent tomorrow,” he said.
Doro stressed the need to move beyond the distribution of palliatives towards sustainable interventions that empower individuals and households to overcome poverty.
He explained that while palliatives help families survive periods of crisis, sustainable development pathways enable them to achieve lasting economic independence and reduce their reliance on government assistance.
The minister identified the Household Prosperity and Economic Social Protection Project (HOPE-SP) as a key initiative reflecting the government’s shift towards sustainable recovery, empowerment and self-reliance.
He said the project was designed to move interventions away from a predominantly relief-oriented approach towards long-term solutions that address the root causes of poverty.
Doro added that OHOPRS provides a unified national framework for humanitarian response, social protection, poverty reduction, economic inclusion and graduation out of poverty.
He emphasised that households, particularly mothers and their children, remained central to the ministry’s interventions and the measurement of their success.
According to him, Nigeria is responding to the objectives of SDG 1 by strengthening social protection systems and improving the capacity of poor households to withstand economic and other shocks.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Olubunmi Olusanya, commended the ministry’s initiatives and reaffirmed the importance of collective action in addressing poverty.
Olusanya said poverty eradication could not be achieved by government alone, stressing the need for stronger collaboration among public institutions, development partners, the private sector and civil society organisations.
He appreciated stakeholders for their contributions to poverty reduction efforts and urged them to sustain and strengthen their support to ensure the country’s success.
Goodwill messages were delivered by representatives of the European Union, African AIDS International, the World Food Programme, the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Fidelity Bank Plc, among other stakeholders.
The representatives reaffirmed their commitment to supporting initiatives aimed at reducing poverty, protecting vulnerable populations and promoting a safe and peaceful society.
The event featured the presentation of palliatives to selected vulnerable persons as part of efforts to provide immediate relief to those in need.
