Femi Falana, a senior advocate for human rights in Nigeria (SAN), has urged President Bola Tinubu to lead the nation’s efforts to combat widespread poverty rather than just urging governors to take action.
At a recent meeting with governors elected on the All Progressives Congress (APC), where the President acknowledged the harsh economic realities that Nigerians face as a result of neoliberal policies, Falana made reference to the President’s remarks in a statement on Sunday.
Falana, the president’s quota, stated that “Nigerians are still complaining at the grassroots.” You must wet the grass more, governors, to bring about progressive change in Nigeria. God’s blessings on our democracy and fertile soils
Falana urged the Federal Government to abandon appeals and instead demonstrate leadership by fully funding current welfare programs.
President Bola Tinubu is urged to ensure that the National Social Investment Programme Agency Act is passed and signed into law by the 36 state governments, saying that they should not be pleading with them to “wet the ground more.”
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The senior lawyer argued that governments at all levels should concentrate on putting together positive social policies to alleviate suffering among the populace rather than spending billions on state house renovations.
Falana criticized the Federal Government for funding the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in 2025 with a sum of 32.7%, noting that this amount is significantly lower than the 39.9% that was reportedly used to renovate the Abuja International Conference Center.
He argued that a government that recently claimed to have spent 39 billion dollars on the renovation of the International Conference Center in Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory cannot justify the $32.7 billion investment in the National Social Investment Programmes for 2025 to help the 133 million people who are alleged to be multi-dimensionally poor in the nation.
A federal initiative to reduce poverty, the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), established under the 2023 Social Investment Programme Agency Act, provides funding for programs like the N-Power for youth empowerment, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme for access to soft loans, the school feeding program to combat child malnutrition, and conditional cash transfers for disadvantaged households.
Falana pointed out that there are funds available to help with these programs. He cited the $11.9 trillion that the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) provided to the 36 states, local governments, and the Federal Capital Territory last year.
The National Assembly allegedly padded the federal budget by putting together 11, 122 projects worth $6.93 trillion, according to a report from BudgIT, a civic tech company. Falana pointed out that President Tinubu signed a $54.99 trillion budget into law on February 28th, making up 12.5% of that figure.
He questioned the viability of a system where senators receive massive salaries each month and House of Representatives members receive $115 million in funding for crucial social programs.
Falana argued that the social sector needs to be given the same urgency as the Federal Executive Council, which recently approved $3.5 trillion in funding for roads, airports, and other infrastructure.
According to him, the Federal Executive Council should appoint not less than $5 trillion to finance the National Social Investment Programme as a matter of urgency.
