Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, Social Development programme, Mrs. Sadiya Umar Farouk, has revealed that the federal government has disbursed monetary support to 9,925 beneficiaries across the 44 local government areas in Kano State, with a view to reducing poverty among the vulnerable.
The minister made the disclosure yesterday, during the official unveiling of the cash grant for vulnerable groups, digitalised payment of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) and sensitisation of community stakeholders of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in Kano State.
The minister said since the inception of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2015, when it inherited a National Poverty Incidence level averaging 70 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the federal government has paid more attention to generating solutions to address the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country.
“This informed the decision to initiate the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in 2015 as a strategy for poverty reduction and enhancing social inclusion among our people especially the women in rural areas.
“NSIP has been acclaimed by many to be the largest and most ambitious social protection programme in Africa, and it is currently attracting many partnerships including even from international development partners.”
Farouk stated that since the commencement of implementing the NSIP in 2016, it has impacted positively on many lives of the poor and vulnerable in Nigeria.
“I have personally witnessed the life-changing experiences of people who, hitherto, lived below the poverty line and those that are vulnerable to shocks, but are now living better lives.
“Today, we are in Kano to flag-off the Grant for Vulnerable Groups programme (GVG) in Kano State, a project which was introduced in 2020, first as Grant for Rural Women (GRW), to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari’s administration. It is consistent with his deliberate National agenda of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. “
She said the GVG was designed to provide a one-off grant, cash grant of N20,000.00, to some of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians in rural and peri-urban areas across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
She said President Muhammadu Buhari, through his deliberate social inclusion agenda had directed that 70 per cent of the beneficiaries must be women, while the remaining 30 per cent youths.
He also directed that at least 15 per cent of the total number of beneficiaries must specifically be allocated to citizens with special needs, including Persons with Disability (PWDs) and Senior Citizens in the State.
“It is on this note that we encourage the Kano State government to note and emulate this gesture and extend similar interventions to amplify social inclusion through its policies, programmes and projects.
“The target of this cash grant project is to increase income and productive assets of the target beneficiaries. “
She said, “the import of this exercise is to create room for reliable, transparent and accessible databases for seamless disbursements.”
