Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Faruk, yesterday, flagged off the disbursement of N160million to 8,000 rural women in Lagos State.
This was part of the Nationwide Grant for the Rural Women Project introduced last year to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration.
Farouk said the programme is consistent with the President’s vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years and designed to provide a one-off grant to some of the poorest and most vulnerable women in rural and semi-urban areas of the country.
The minister, represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mallam Bashir Nura Alkali, explained that it was the Federal government gesture and support towards alleviating the trauma caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
She stated that the social investment programme, introduced 2106, has impacted positively on the lives of the poor and vulnerable in Nigeria, as over 12 million households have benefitted from NSIP interventions in the last five years.
This includes payment of a monthly Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) of N5, 000 to one million indigent Nigerians to protect them against economic shocks and elevate them out of poverty; 1,092,405 micro and small business owners accessing loans to boost productivity, increase income and reduce poverty under the Government Enterprise Enhancement Programme (GEEP).
In addition, the minister said the N-Power programme provided temporary income-generating opportunities for 500,000 unemployed youths, while 8,612,457 Primary One to Three pupils in public schools are currently receiving one meal per day under the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
Farouk noted: “It is in view of this that President graciously approved the expansion of the programme to touch more lives and lift more Nigerians above the poverty breadline.”
The grant, she explained, among many other programmes in the ministry, is being restructured and revamped to respond to peculiarities of different parts of the country, ensure the right beneficiaries are targeted and enhance the impact on target beneficiaries.
The minister added: “We are working tirelessly to address some of the socio-economic problems bedevilling all parts of the country by strengthening the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
“A cash grant of N20, 000 will be disbursed to about 125,000 poor women across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“Our target in Lagos State is to disburse the grant to over 8,000 beneficiaries across all councils. The grant is expected to increase income and productive assets of target beneficiaries.
“It is our hope that the beneficiaries will make good use of the grant to generally contribute towards improving their living standard.
“We believe with the complementary effort of the Lagos State Government, the target beneficiaries will be adequately covered within the next few days.
“I am optimistic that with the support and cooperation of Your Excellency and other stakeholders present here, we will remain on the track of lifting 100 million out of poverty by 2030.”
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamza, helped in disbursing the grants to the beneficiaries.
