The Federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has flagged off the N20,000 cash grant to vulnerable Nigerians.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday, July 28, 2022.
She described the flag off as a symbolical programme of national interest innovatively aimed at uplifting many of the poorest and vulnerable citizens nationwide.
According to her, this is a clear indication of citizens commitment to support Mr President in deploying solutions to address poverty in the country.
She recalled that since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration in 2015, the Federal Government has sustained efforts in listening to the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country, adding that this led to the introduction of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) as a strategy for enhancing social inclusion for all.
She asserted that the NSIP is one of the largest social protection programmes in Africa with over N400 billion earmarked annually to positively impact the lives of the poor and vulnerable in the country.
Farouq said since its introduction in 2016, the NSIP has changed the lives of the poor and vulnerable in Nigeria.
She said,”The Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) programme was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari’s Administration.
“It is consistent with the national target 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 peri-urban areas of the country.
“A cash grant of N20,000.00 is being disbursed to poor women and youths across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
“Our target in the FCT is to disburse the grant to over 2,900 beneficiaries across the 6 Area Councils. In line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s social inclusion, 70% of the total number of beneficiaries is for women while the remaining 30% is for the youths.
“In addition, about 15% of the total number of beneficiaries is specifically allocated to the segment of the population with special needs, including Persons with Disability (PWDs), internally displaced persons (IDPs) and senior citizens in the FCT.
“The cash grant we are disbursing today is expected to increase income and productive assets of the target beneficiaries, especially when economic challenges at global and local levels are affecting the socioeconomic conditions of our people.
“It is our hope that the beneficiaries of this programme will make good use of the grant to improve productive activities that would generate more income and improve their living standard. We hope to see petty traders, peasant farmers, artisanal workers and other beneficiaries of this programme including people with disabilities to prosper,” she said.
The Minister stressed that over 12 million Nigerians (and still counting) have benefitted from NSIP interventions in the last 5 years, including nearly 1 million unemployed graduate beneficiaries under the N-Power under Batches A, B and C nationwide, each taking home a monthly stipend of N30,000.
She also said that an estimate of nearly 300,000 non-graduates receiving training and starter-packs empowerment, in addition to a monthly stipen of N10,000 for a period of 9 months.
According to her, nearly 12 million poor and vulnerable households have been recorded in a National Social Regidter (NSR) from which 2 million poor and vulnerable households have been mined into a National Beneficiary Register (NBR) who are receiving a monthly cash transfer of N5,000.
