Two thousand, eight hundred (2,800) rural women have received 20 thousand naira cash grant from the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social development in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, south-south Nigeria.
The women, who were drawn from the 18 local government areas of Cross River, converged on the main bowl of the Cultural Centre Complex in Calabar to receive the grant of 20,000 naira cash from the Minister Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq represented by the Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme, Dr. Umar Bindir.
Bindir said that the grant was part of the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s social inclusion programme to lift 100 million people out of poverty through the National Social Investment Programme, which comprises N-Power, National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, GEEP.
He stated, “the Grant for Rural Women Programme was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari’s administration. It is designed to provide a one-off grant to the poorest and most vulnerable women in the rural and peri-rural areas.”
According to Bindir, a cash grant of 20 thousand naira would be disbursed to rural women across the 36 states in the country, noting “our target in Cross River is to disburse the grant to over 2,800 rural women across the 18 local government councils.”
The National Coordinator further stated that as the largest social protection programme in Africa with over One Billion US Dollars earmarked annually to positively change the lives of the poor and vulnerable, NSIP had produced other results in Cross River State.
“Over 12 million household nationwide have benefited from the intervention schemes in the last five years. In Cross River State, 11,995 households are receiving the Conditional Cash Transfer of 5,000 naira monthly and 362,870 school children get one free meal a day prepared by more than 3,000 cooks that supply the food for the school feeding programme,” Bindir hinted.
Bindir explained that the grant is expected to increase the income and productive assets of the beneficiaries and advised them to utilise the cash grants judiciously so as to improve their current living standards.
He commended the Governor Ben Ayade led administration for the commitment and collaboration with President Buhari’s social inclusion programme to uplift the core poor out of poverty.
Empowerment Programme
In a message, Governor Ben Ayade expressed profound appreciation to the Nigerian Government for initiating the women empowerment programme aimed at lifting the poor and vulnerable out of poverty and improving their standard of living.
Governor Ayade, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Tina Agbor, said the programme was in tandem with his humanitarian posture and policy thrust, which is to elevate the socio-economic status of women, children and less privileged in the society.
“This is timely and most welcomed. This grant will accord the beneficiaries the opportunity to invest in their petty businesses. The future of this nation lies in the hands of the women. I expect that the beneficiaries would invest these monies in their various businesses and manage that trade to grow like they have always done,” he said.
Some of the beneficiaries including Mrs. Etim-Effiom, expressed gratitude to President Buhari for driving the programme, noting “this is the first time that we are ever receiving money like this from our government. We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for remembering women, widows, and single parents like us. This will help me in my business. I can now buy more palm oil because I retail palm oil in bottles.”
Earlier, the Cross River Commissioner for Humanities and Social Welfare, Blessing Egbara disclosed that the governor established the ministry to synergize with Federal Ministry to implement the President’s intervention schemes.
She assured of the ministry’s preparedness to ensure beneficiaries effectively utilize the grants to improve their means of livelihood.
Nnenna.O
