Enugu Govt.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouk, while disbursing the grants, Sunday, said that the project was part of Federal Government`s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).
Farouk, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Bashir Alkali, said the programme was designed for the poorest and most vulnerable citizens in the country.
She said the Federal Government has since 2015, paid more attention to addressing the plight of the poor and vulnerable in spite of daunting revenue challenges.
According to her, the scheme was a demonstration of government’s efforts to address some development challenges being faced by Nigerians.
“It is in view of this that President Muhammadu Buhari graciously approved the expansion of the programme to touch more lives and lift more Nigerians above the poverty breadline, “she said.
She further stated that President Buhari had since the creation of the ministry in 2019 restructured the NSIP to respond to peculiarities of different parts of the country, adding that the grant was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of the current administration in line with its vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
“It is 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 and a cash grant of N20,000 would be disbursed to about 125,000 poor women across the 36 states of the federation” she said.
She further said that the FG’s target in Enugu State was to disburse the grant to 2,800 beneficiaries across the 17 local councils to improve the living standards of residents of the state.
“The NSIP is adjudged as the largest social protection programme in Africa with over $1billion earmarked annually for the poorest and most vulnerable in the country. “Since its introduction in 2016, over 12 million households have benefited” she explained.
She noted that this includes payment of a monthly Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) of N5,000 to one million indigent Nigerians to protect them against economic shocks.
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