Kaduna State: Over 4,000 women to benefit from Federal Government grant

Over 4,000 rural women from across the 23 Local government councils of Kaduna State are to benefits from the Federal government under the National Social Investment Programme, NSIP.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq disclosed this during the flag-off ceremony of the NSIP in Kaduna.

She said the gesture was to give a helping hand to some of the poorest and most vulnerable citizens in the country as part of the government’s commitment to addressing some development challenges Nigeria is grappling with.

The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Bashir Alkali explained that the program was adjudged as the largest social protection programme in Africa with over 1billion dollars earmarked annually to cause positive changes in the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable in the Country.

She noted that the present administration is committed to the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the Country despite the economic slump and revenue challenges.

Hajiya Sadiya further stated that, since the inception of the program in 2016, many lives have been impacted on positively as over 12 million households have benefitted from NSIP interventions in the last 5 years.

“This includes the payment of the monthly Conditional Cash Transfer, CCT of N5,000.00 to one million indigent Nigerians to protect them against economic shocks. Also, 1,092,405 micro and small business owners accessed loans to boost productivity, increase income and reduce poverty under the Government Enterprises Enhancement Programme, GEEP,“ she explained.

The Minister who distributed a cash grant of twenty thousand naira to each woman at the ceremony also disclosed that such disbursement has been made to about 125,000 poor women across the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT respectively.

The Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe said the grant disbursement was apt as it is coming at a time when citizens are grappling with the adverse impact of Covid-19 on livelihoods.

She revealed that Kaduna State presently has 34,946 poor and vulnerable households from nine Local councils benefiting from the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.

According to her, the State government funded the scaling up of the social register to all the local councils, as such, enrollment of an additional 36,326 households is ongoing in the newly included 14 LGAs in the State.

Dr Hadiza further stated that the State has a robust social protection policy whose main thrust is to have in a place, a well-structured integrated social protection system that is capable of meritoriously reaching the poorest and most vulnerable citizens of the state.

 “The implementation plan of this policy has several additional interventions that cut across nutrition, agriculture, youth unemployment and social insurance and pensions for the informal sector,“ she stated.

She called on the beneficiaries to implore and reciprocate the government’s gesture by making use of the support they will be receiving to enhance their livelihoods.

PIAK