President Muhammadu Buhari says he is aware of the devastation that biting poverty is causing in Nigerian families in recent times.

President Buhari stated this, on Thursday, in Abuja, where he advised Christian and Muslim leaders, and preachers generally, in the country to give more attention to issues that strengthen the family, and build society, describing them as “custodians of our values and of social ideals.”

The President, at the Joint National Conference of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Future Assured Initiative on Repositioning the Muslim Family for National Development, said the family provides the bedrock for any society, and therefore, deserved more attention in the country.

“In this endeavour, our religious leaders and organisations are most important catalyst. They are the custodians of our values and of our social ideals.

“It is, therefore, commendable that the Nigerian Supreme Council in collaboration with the Future Assured Initiative has risen up to this challenge.

“I, however, wish to call on all our religious leaders and organisations, both Christian and Muslim, to follow suit by redirecting important elements of their preaching and teachings on family issues with a view to broadening the sensitisation of people at the grassroots level,” he said.

“We have been conscious of the havoc poverty is wreaking on the family. We, therefore, believe that poverty alleviation is central to safeguarding the integrity of our families.

“Our administration introduced a number of economic empowerment and poverty alleviation schemes. Some of these directly impact on families while others have indirect effect on families through their multiplier effects.

“The first, and most robust programme, is the Social Investment Programme, which serves as a very broad framework for availing Nigerian families at the grassroots level different forms of economic support,’’ President Buhari added.

Many homes had benefitted from the Conditional Cash Transfer, while trader-moni and market-moni schemes have also been impactful, he disclosed.

“The school feeding programme has assisted immensely in supporting poor Nigerian families in getting their children enrolled and sustained in school,” the President noted.