The governor of Cross River State, southern Nigeria, Bassey Otu has charged a newly formed committee to ensure the effective implementation of the Nigeria Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) 2.0 programme.
Governor Otu gave the charge shortly after inaugurating the steering committee at the Government House in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
Otu urged the committee to diligently ensure that the programme, when implementated, benefits the people in line with the Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and his administration’s People First policy.
He further said that NG-CARES was designed to strengthen existing social safety nets and provide interventions such as livelihood support, agriculture value chains and others aimed at improving the economic resilience and wellbeing of vulnerable citizens.
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According to him, the calibre of persons selected as members of the committee was to guarantee effective management and successful implementation of the programme across the state.
Governor Otu urged the committee “to approach these responsibilities with diligence, accountability and a strong sense of service. We must ensure that our people benefit from this programme.
“You must ensure that those at the communities receive the benefits as well as people in the town’s and city. Let the citizens reap the dividend of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and our People First mantra,” he said.
On behalf of the committee, the Chairman who is also the Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Michael Odere, expressed appreciation to the governor for appointing them to serve.
Odere assured the governor that the committee would ensure prudent management of resources, transparency, accountability and strictly comply with the guidelines of the NG-CARES programme.
Similarly, the State Coordinator of NG-CARES and Secretary of the committee, Henry Egbelo, highlighted the state’s performance under the first phase of the programme.
Egbelo noted that Cross River ranked second nationally and first in the south-south, saying “Cross River recorded ₦49.43 billion in total earnings and ₦32.52 billion in reimbursements under NG-CARES 1.0.”
He explained further: “the programme supported vulnerable households through social protection interventions, engaged vulnerable youths and street sweepers under the Labour-Intensive Public Works (LIPW).
“It also supported farmers across major value chains through FADAMA, implemented community infrastructure projects through the Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA), and provided grants to eligible micro and small enterprises,” he said.
Egbelo commended the Cross River State government for creating an enabling environment, which has contributed to the successful implementation of the first phase of the Federal Government-World Bank initiative.
The committee has the Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Michael Odere, as Chairman; the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Dr. Helen Isamoh, Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development, Johnson Ebokpo; Accountant General, Dr. Glory Effiong amongst others.
