The beneficiaries in the letter signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Adeshina Adex, lamented that while they had been starved for nine months without payment of their stipends.
Nigerian graduates in the government’s National Social Investment Programme (N-Power) under the National Association of Npower Beneficiaries (NANB), have written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, calling for his immediate intervention on nonpayment of their 9-month stipends.
The beneficiaries in the letter signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Adeshina Adex, lamented that while they had been starved for nine months without payment of their stipends.
They said this is amid President Tinubu’s administration recent plan to buy Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) costing at least N160million for each member of the National Assembly.
They said that their miseries predate President Tinubu's presidency, and that their misery started when the National Social Investment Programme Agency was moved from the Presidency under the supervision of former Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management “for political reasons.”
The letter read, “Why Npower Beneficiaries are Angry - When as a graduate you have to think twice to buy a loaf of bread, to choose between buying data to subscribe to your phone or your lunch and the thought of not being able to provide for your basic daily needs, then you know there's a serious problem.
“Inflation is about 35% with food, fuel, energy and transportation costs being the most affected. In a country that imports virtually everything, relying mostly on oil exports for its foreign earnings and the continued depreciation of the currency in the black Market have worsened the price levels in the 4 Months of the Tinubu's administration.
“Npower Beneficiaries miseries predate Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Presidency. The misery began when the National Social Investment Program Agency was moved from the Presidency under the supervision of the then Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to the Ministry of Humanitarian affairs for Political reasons.
“How on earth will a country whose greatest natural resources are its youthful population ignore these youths for more than 9 months without paying them their salaries after posting them to their various PPAs?
“How do you expect these unpaid Npower Beneficiaries to react if they hear that the Federal legislators are planning to buy SUVs costing at least N160 million each on the ground that the expense is for necessity and not to indulge in their vanity?
“Few weeks ago, the Federal Government signed a supplementary budget of N2.18 trillion from which a whopping sum of N13.5 billion would be spent on renovation or construction of new offices in the presidency and another N5 billion on a Presidential yacht.
“Can you Imagine? All these are happening at the same time when more than 1 million Nigerian unemployed graduates are being owed 9 months stipends.
“Well, I'm not surprised because these are mostly children of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid and there is no one willing to help.”