The Government of Osun state has launched a N20 million monthly social support scheme to tackle poverty and protect vulnerable citizens of the State.
The initiative which is meant to tackle poverty targets 4,000 beneficiaries and is to widen the government’s social inclusion net, empower the less privileged and raise their standard of living.
Flagging off the scheme at the Staff Development Centre, Abere, Osogbo, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola said his administration had injected huge capital inflow into various social protection initiatives.
He said: “As part of our objective to give a better life to the poor and the indigent, we have given social protection a pride of place, with over 14 social investment programmes targeted at elderly people, the youth, the poor, and school children.
“These expansive programmes and the attendant impact we have recorded have earned us awards from the eras of MDGs to that of SDGs and even prompted the Federal Government to send a delegation to understudy our State.
“All these initiatives are intended to bring all the strata of the society into the welfare net, banish hunger, terminate mystery, spread prosperity and stabilize the economy of the State”.
Oyetola also said his government was collaborating with the Federal Government and the private sector to enhance the welfare and well-being of the people of the State.
According to him, beneficiaries of the current scheme are widows and the elderly who have been carefully selected from the State Operation Coordinating Unit (SOCU) document sponsored by the World Bank on poor and vulnerable households.
He said: “We shall continue to help marginalised groups such as women, people living with disabilities and the aged to develop income-generation activities to make them contribute to the economic potential of the State”.
“We shall continue to pursue programmes that will put the people first, strengthen the weak in our economic chain and achieve sustainable economic development. Let me assure you that as long as I remain the governor by the grace of Almighty God, we will sustain this initiative.”
The governor urged the beneficiaries to engage in productive ventures that would turn their situation around, adding that government would stand with them in their efforts to bring courage and meaning into their lives.
Speaking earlier, the State Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Olalekan Badmus, said the Scheme was one of the several social intervention programmes being run by the state government to bring relief to the less privileged in society.
“Since he got into office, our Governor has never left anyone in doubt about his unflinching commitment to the social well-being of the citizens.
“In this special Scheme, 4000 indigent people of Osun origin, comprising widows and the elderly are being supported on a monthly basis with a sum of twenty million naira on five thousand naira per beneficiary”, he added.
Some of the beneficiaries, mostly widows and the aged praised the government and described the programme as helpful to them.
Olusola Akintonde
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