By Nathan Nwakamma
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has commenced disbursement of cash grants of N20,000 each to 2,219 poor and vulnerable persons in Bayelsa State.
The Minister, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, while disbursing the grants in Yenagoa on Friday, said that the beneficiaries were drawn from the eight local government areas of the state.
Faroug said the exercise was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to consolidate on the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).
She said the programme was designed by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to alleviate the sufferings of the poor and vulnerable citizens of the society.
She said the grant was introduced in 2020 with a national target of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.
The minister said that 70 per cent of the grant would be disbursed to women, while the youths and persons with disability would get the remaining 30 percent.
She urged the beneficiaries to use the grant in productive activities that would generate more income and improve their living standard.
Faroug expressed appreciation to the Bayelsa Government for partnering with the ministry to ensure that NSIP was effectively implemented in the state.
A beneficiary of the programme, Mrs Pere Ebinabe, thanked the federal government for the gesture, promising to use the fund in reviving her ailing businesses.
NAN reports that the digitised payment system for conditional cash transfers was also inaugurated and second stream of independent monitors to assess the programme implementation trained.
