Npower: A look Into the Past, Present, and Future (Afolabi Vs Sadiya): Shortly after President Mohammadu Buhari assumed office in 2015, as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, through the office of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, the Npower Programme was conceived
The Buhari led government made so many promises, including eradicating poverty via providing mass employment to the poor and vulnerable in the country
Through the office of the vice, the Npower programme kicked started in 2016 with a batch of 200,000bpersons onboard.
Mr. Afolabi’s Tenure
Professor Yemi Osibanjo, the vice president, a nobleman, full of vision and creativity, enriched with wisdom and positivity, made Mr. Afolabi the Caretaker and the cluster head of the Npower programme
The programme went smooth and sound, batch A was well managed to a large extent, and the Government headed by Buhari saw that the programme is a success story of his government- An accolade well commended by all Nigerians. Hence Batch B of 300,000 volunteers was onboarded
500,000 persons were being managed by Mr. Afolabi and others, who developed love and passion for the programme, they advised the government on how to improve the programme and things went well
Even the opposition parties were shamed and left to wonder if such a laudable programme could see the light of the day, given the lean resources met by the Buhari government
Afolabi, a well-experienced technocrat, made the promised
·Devices to be shared among a hand of Batch A, with an intention to give the remnant of Batch A and the whole batch B their chosen and preferred devices
·Beneficiaries’ Stipends were never delayed compared to the present Head of the Npower programme or the head of the ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development
·There where communication and friendly relationship between Employees and Employers
·Gave hope and courage to beneficiaries, the move for permanency was activated
·With his constant Facebook live chat, beneficiaries were at ease and kept in touch with the Federal Government
·Volunteers once had the opportunities to go to the situation room, on one-on-one contact ask and meet with Mr. Afolabi
·Mr. Afolabi made it a duty to visit PPA of beneficiaries- a move that kept all volunteers alert and serious
· He instituted many other laudable internal control mechanisms that help youths see the beauty of skills acquisitions as the driver of the economy, Ntech (software and hardware), Nbuild etc
But the latter days of the programme saw things moving in the opposite direction, first, Mariam Uwais (a brain and pioneer of the Npower programme) was sent to the office of the presidency
The Npower and the entire National Social Investment were merged to form what is now known as the ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development
In a sane clime, a person with a proven track record and wealth of experience from both the private and public sector would have been nominated and screened to head this sensitive ministry, the first of its kind in Nigeria
Umar Farouk Sadiyat Running of the ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development
She is the youngest minister in the Buhari-led cabinet, appointed in July 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari to oversee the newly created Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, and the entire National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).
The past few months have exposed the incompetency and Managerial mishap of the minister, not only has she failed to deliver but lack ideas on how to run a Social Investment programme like that of -Npower, which is the largest in Africa, and one of the few successful stories of Buhari’s Government.
Her nonchalant attitudes to the plight of Npower volunteers had gained the ground all over; volunteers have taken to her Twitter page in protest hurling and throwing tantrums and ill-mannered words on the minister
Since they brought in Umar Sadiya Farouq to pilot the activities of the National Social Investment Programme, things became even worst and deals became shady, Volunteers claimed
In this perilous covid-19 pandemic, Volunteers were left to surfer more even while their stipend is due, the total lockdown experienced in some states come without warnings and Hajiya Umar Sadiya Farouq abandoned volunteers sheepishly
Npower volunteers had to wait until towards the middle or end of the next month before receiving their stipends. A sad situation, which might blackmail Buhari’s integrity towards creating and sustaining jobs and the entire APC manifestoes.
According to WIKIPEDIA,” her total incompetence and ineptitude in the Npower programme can be proven in several ways.
Her failures include;
· Non-payments of volunteers stipends as at when due,
·Failed communication to volunteers and embezzlement of public funds.
·As of 20th of April 2020, Sadiya was yet to pay the beneficiaries’ stipends of the month of March, 2020 when the world is witnessing a full-blown Pandemic of the Corona Virus outbreak”- An outrage accountable leaders and governments would have queried.
“In December 2019, Farouk was queried by the office of the president for exercising powers beyond her official briefs by employing more aides than officially approved and delaying the monthly stipend of Npower Volunteers, a social intervention program of the federal government”-Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadiya_Umar_Farouq
What the future holds for Npower Volunteers in regard to permanency: Evidences volunteers should not trust sadiya’s leadership
Npower Permanency Move: 10 Solid pieces of evidence & Reasons Not to trust Sadiya Umar
Npower Permanency Move:10 Evidences & Reasons Not to trust Sadiya: It is no longer news Batch A, 2016 set has the hope of staying longer in the Npower programmes.
see http://myeduproject.com.ng/npower-permanency-movedrop-your-signature-as-bill-goes-next-reading
Non-payments of volunteers stipends as at when due
Since Umar sadiya the Head of the National Social Investment Programme, and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, there have been delays in payment of stipend to volunteers, the non-graduate category had suffered far worse than the graduate category. The situation got worst this year, as all the months are occasioned by horrible delays.
Volunteers had to wait till the middle of the next month before earned stipends of the previous month are paid. With the non-payment and delays in payment experienced. There have been protests and names calling from all nooks and cranny before payment are made- a sad reality under the very nose of the minister
See evidence http://myeduproject.com.ng/npower-beneficiaries-protest-non-payment-of-march-stipend-on-facebook
Failed communication to volunteers
In the midst of these challenges faced above, the minister had failed to relate changes or real-time issues to volunteers as a sign of competence; she never came out to tell volunteers what the problem is about delays or changes going on in NSIP.
Volunteers get information or learn from correspondence, hence fake news easily disseminated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadiya_Umar_Farouq
Indicted Of Converting Npower Stipends to COVID-19 Palliatives
According to Sahara reporter, it could be recalled, that the March Stipend has been delayed unnecessarily without course. Payment only started when insults of immeasurable proportion were hurled at the minister
“It was gathered that the delay in payment was to finalize plans to divert the salaries to palliatives measure for the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country”
“In a document exclusively obtained by Sahara Reporters, the Humanitarian Ministry spearheaded the move despite a warning by stakeholders in the scheme”.
Embezzlement of public funds
Misappropriation and theft of funds went bad when the March stipend came via GIFMIS “Payment has always been processed and paid through the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) but the one for the month of March was processed with the Government Integrated Financial and Management Information System (GIFMIS).
“This payment was done by skipping the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government,” a a source in the ministry familiar with the payment told Sahara Reporters.
The source added that to be able to carry out the payment, the data of N-Power beneficiaries and others not included in the scheme was uploaded on the GIFMIS platform https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadiya_Umar_Farouq
“The payment was done with GIFMIS, which was used to carry out the renaming of the N-Power March salary to COVID-19 palliatives,”
Incompetence and ineptitude
The past few months have exposed the incompetency and Managerial mishap of the minister, not only has she failed to deliver but lacks ideas on how to run a Social Investment programme like that of Npower, which is the largest in Africa, and one of the few success stories of Buhari’s Government.
Too many Lies (A lying Machine)
The Buhari administration through the leadership of the First Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Hajiya Umar Sadiya Farouq has constantly told lies without remorse and mercy.
The battered Hajiya Umar Sadiya Farouq blamed the verification process in the ministry as the main cause of the delay in stipend payment, citing plenty of verification procedure that must be followed before payment is triggered
If it is not verification procedure, it would be a technical problem, and these keep happening every month, a penchant for lies even a toddler would not be believed
Beneficiaries of the programme had protested via social media, calling the Honorable Minister ill-names not suitable for a public figure like hers
Woeful and Disastrous Failure
See how Wikipedia described Umar Sadiya Faroug, in this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadiya_Umar_Farou