Abuja — Super Eagles assistant captain and Everton defender, Joseph Yobo has been conferred with the title of 'Defender of the poor' by the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP).

National Coordinator of NA-PEP, Dr. Magnus Kpakol said that the title is in recognition of the immense contribution of Joseph Yobo to poverty reduction in the country, adding "everyone in Nigeria should be willing to defend poverty with vigour like Yobo".

Kpakol said that NAPEP has also entered into a partnership arrangement with the football icon on the mobilisation of resources for the 'Village Trust Fund for Education' and 'Score on Poverty' initiative aimed at empowering the active poor in Nigeria.

He said that human development constitutes the most important consideration in economic development, adding that "there is need to mainstream the activities of the poor by providing them with all the available resources".

According to the National Coordinator, six communities from each of the geo-political zones in the country will soon benefit from the trust fund which is designed to "reduce poverty stress".

"Joseph Yobo has agreed to help us sensitize people in the aspect of looking for talent among young people and building Village Trust Fund for them to be able to go to school. What we intend to do is to at least have small resources to be deployed to six communities in each of the six geo-political zones", he said.

In his remark, the Super Eagles defender said that he will continue to collaborate with major stakeholders in the fight against poverty.