By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Singapore has announced a new financial support package that will provide each eligible Singaporean child with nearly S$70,000 (about ₦94 million) in government benefits from birth until age 17.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced the S$62,000 SG Child Support Package during his National Day Rally speech on August 23, saying the government wants to make a fundamental change in how families are supported rather than simply making small adjustments to existing schemes.

The package includes a S$10,000 cash Baby Gift, S$32,000 in Child Credits, a S$5,000 Child Development Account (CDA) grant, up to S$5,000 in government CDA co-matching and a S$10,000 top-up to the child’s Post-Secondary Education Account.

When combined with existing benefits, including a S$5,000 MediSave Grant for Newborns and annual Edusave contributions, total government support will reach about S$70,000 per child. This is higher than the current S$27,500 to S$56,500 parents receive, depending on the child’s birth order.

Wong said the government would simplify the system because many parents find the existing schemes difficult to understand. He said every child would receive the same level of support, with assistance provided not only at birth but throughout the years as children grow.

The S$10,000 Baby Gift will be paid in two instalments during the first year after birth, while the S$32,000 Child Credits will provide S$2,000 annually from age one until the child turns 16. The government will also give a further S$10,000 top-up to the child’s education account when the child turns 17.

The new package is expected to benefit more than 610,000 children across 380,000 households. The measures are part of Singapore’s wider efforts to encourage more people to have children amid a declining birth rate.

Wong said the government was putting significant resources into the plans because supporting families and Singaporeans through every stage of life remains a national priority.

The presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has described as “a lie” the notion that Nigeria is the wealthiest country in Africa.

The former Governor of Cross River State said Nigeria is, rather, one of the poorest countries on the continent and should not be regarded as Africa’s largest economy based solely on its overall GDP.

In an interview with selected journalists in Lagos, Duke said Nigeria is a poor country when its per capita income is taken into consideration.

According to him, even countries that Nigeria considers smaller have higher per capita incomes, adding that the country is “living a lie.”

“It is embarrassing that a country that was considered one of the wealthiest in Africa still thinks today that it is the largest economy in Africa. That is not true.

“We are living a lie. It is a nice sound bite, though, to say that Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa. No. Nigeria is just one of the poorest when you take per capita income into consideration, and that is what you should measure, not just growth.

“If all we were producing in Nigeria was kulikuli, as we have been advised to do, we would still be a large economy in terms of GDP. But individually, what is our capital base? It is very poor.

“Most of these countries that we laugh at have a higher income per capita than we do.

“So, it all comes down to productivity. The idle mind is the playground of the devil. That was true yesterday, it is true today, and it will be true tomorrow,” Duke said.

On security, Duke said he does not like the phrase “Islamic terrorists” because he does not believe the terrorists are driven by Islam.

He noted that the security challenges facing Nigeria, particularly in the northern part of the country, were aggravated by the collapse of Libya, which led to an influx of arms through Nigeria’s land borders.

He, therefore, suggested that Nigeria needs short-, medium- and long-term approaches to address the rising insecurity holding the country back.

“Right now, you have got to deal with the security problems as they exist today — kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and all that.

“But even beyond that, those things are consequences of other things. They are consequences of a very poor economy and, of course, the failure to properly manage our borders.

“With the collapse of Libya, a lot of arms have been moving south. We call them Islamic terrorists. I don’t like that phrase because I don’t think they are driven by Islam.

“The Islam I know is different. They just use that connotation to describe them. Rather, I think these are destructive elements. You can see that when they go into communities, they collect taxes and do other things. It is all geared towards collecting or building a resource base for themselves.”

For the medium- and long-term approaches, Duke suggested that the Nigerian government should focus on making citizens more productive.

He noted that as long as people are not productive, they will find their own means of survival.

He advised the government to focus on local production to improve productivity and to deploy modern technology in securing the country’s borders.

On reviving the economy of Northern Nigeria, the PRP presidential hopeful said that, if elected President, he would ensure that mining activities in the region are properly structured.

According to him, the structure should promote inclusive participation in the mining industry, ensuring that local and state governments become stakeholders in the sector.

“The rush to produce oil is not synonymous with wealth. You must have commercial quantities and all that. I sometimes think it is overplayed. The oil in the Chad Basin is not available in such commercial quantities. I think the real wealth of the North, beyond agriculture, is in the mineral deposits there.

“There must be a structured way of mining. Today, it is artisanal, and the broader community, the border communities, society and the nation itself do not adequately benefit from those resources.

“Take, for instance, the gold in Zamfara. It probably has — I don’t know — perhaps as much gold as all of Ghana does. Ghana was once called the Gold Coast, so that tells you how much gold there could be in Zamfara. But mining has also attracted banditry because Nigeria is largely an unpoliced state.

“So, I would make each state an economic entity. I think it would encourage states and their governments to focus on the minerals they have.

“If I were in charge, alongside the states, we would carry out an evaluation. I know some of this has already been done. We would evaluate what is available in each state and go further to determine the proven reserves.

“So, for instance, if you are looking for columbite or any other mineral and you know columbite exists in a particular place, let us go further and determine the proven reserves of columbite, lithium or whatever mineral we want to develop.

“Once you have developed it to that level, you make it more attractive for investors to come in. This should be a joint venture between the state and federal governments because the revenues from those resources will be shared by both levels of government.

“But nobody is going to invest if there is no security. We saw what happened in the South, in the Niger Delta region, when security broke down, which was also a function of increasing poverty in those areas.

“The investors there — the oil companies and international companies — moved out, and they now prefer producing oil from the deep sea, which is considered safer,” he said.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Shamakin Marafan Sokoto has congratulated Senator Abdul’aziz Yari Abubakar on his appointment as Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 election.

Shamaki described Yari’s appointment as well deserved, saying his wealth of political experience, leadership qualities and proven track record contributed significantly to his emergence for the important position.

He said Yari’s experience would play a key role in mobilising support and coordinating the APC’s campaign efforts towards ensuring the success of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the party in the 2027 presidential election.

According to him, the appointment reflects the confidence the APC leadership has in Yari’s capacity to deliver, particularly given his years of experience in politics and governance.

Shamaki expressed optimism that Yari would bring his vast political network and organisational skills