By Austin Oyibode
A Channels Television anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, has thumbed up for Senator Ned Nwoko representing Delta North in the national assembly.
Okinbaloye, reputed for his critical stance against interviewees, commended Senator Nwoko over the number of bills and motions he has moved within the one year and four months he has been at the national assembly.
Specifically, Okinbaloye told Senator Nwoko that he has a long list of bills and motions he has moved within the short period he has been in the senate.
According to him: “Some of the motions and bills you have moved on the floor of the Senate is what a federal lawmaker would spend a tenure or two to move, but you have done that in far less than two years.”
Okinbaloye made the remark during a live television session with Senator Nwoko after participating in the screening of newly appointed ministers at the national assembly.
In the session, the television anchor man drew the attention of the senator to a particular bill which he has brought to the senate for consideration.
The bill sponsored by Senator Nwoko is aimed at renaming the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to National Social Security Agency.
Senator Nwoko revealed that the agency he is proposing to replace the ministry is to make the ministry to be more data driven where data of all Nigerians irrespective of socio-economic and political status will be collected for proper planning and documentation.
He said: “We need to have data of everyone from the units to the ward, from the local government to the state. There should be data base for everybody in Nigeria.”
He said what he is advocating for has never been done before in Nigeria. He said the objective is to identify those in need from all the communities in the nation. He noted that the ministry of humanitarian affairs has been given so much budget but the funds are not reaching the people they were meant to serve.
He said the previous stakeholders in the ministry employ means that do not connect the expected beneficiaries to the agency, hence the funds get to the wrong hands.
Arising from this, he said the agency he is proposing is to have a national data base which will capture everyone irrespective of the individual’s socio-economic and political status.
“It’s about capturing every individual in Nigeria – civil servants, self employed, the sick, students, the deformed and the vulnerable, the rich, the poor and all classes of people. Nigeria needs to work with verifiable information.
“We should target the disables and the vulnerables. We must look at people who are really in need. They are many in Nigeria. This ministry has not done that.
“The ministry has been using consultants to help them compile names and N100bn is made available to them. They decide who should be given the money. Maybe to their families and friends and those who supported them. But not to those who need the money.
“With this data, we can plan Nigeria. We can plan for the vulnerable. Before releasing money to the ministry, let’s fix this first,” Senator Nwoko insisted.
