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From Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
The Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has offered an empowerment grant to over 3,500 vulnerable women in Osun State.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social
Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, who disclosed this on Tuesday during
the flag-off of the Grant for Rural Women Programme in Osogbo, the
state capital, noted that the gesture was aimed at alleviating poverty
among some of the poorest and most vulnerable women in both rural and
peri-urban areas in the state.
The Grant for Rural Women Programme was introduced in 2020 to sustain
the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari’s administration.
Daily Sun gathered that over 3,500 beneficiaries would receive N20,000
each across the 30 local government councils in the state within 10
days that
the distribution of the grant is expected to last.
While explaining the rationale behind the move, Farouq said that the
one-off grant was consistent with the president’s vision of lifting
100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years time.
“The grant is expected to increase income and productive assets of
target beneficiaries. It is our hope that the beneficiaries of this
programme will make good use of the grant to generally contribute
towards improving their living standard,” she stressed.
“The target beneficiaries and many more Nigerians in the state will be
on their way out of poverty to prosperity and we will, as a country,
remain on the track of lifting 100 million out of poverty by 2030,”
she added.
Farouq who disclosed that 5 percent of the total number of
beneficiaries was allocated to Persons with Disability (PWDs) in line
with Buhari’s social inclusion programme, however, urged the state
governments to take a cue from the Federal Government’s initiative as
well as other provisions in the Discrimination Against Persons with
Disability (Prohibition) Act 2019.
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola expressed delight that the spread of the
beneficiaries across all the LGAs “was in tandem with the strategy of
our administration to equitably deliver services and programmes under
our Development Agenda across our local government areas.”
He lauded the president for his sustained commitment to combating
poverty in the country.
“It is on record that the Buhari’s administration has the record of
implementing the biggest and the most ambitious social protection
programmes in the history of our nation, with not less than 4 million
citizens benefiting from different programmes across the country,”
Oyetola said.
“I must also express my appreciation to the leadership of the Federal
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs under the able leadership of Hajia
Sadiya for the passion and commitment to the seamless implementation
of these programmes which continue to impact numerous lives across the
country,” the governor added.
“It deserves to be mentioned that the broad array of social protection
programmes being implemented by the current administration are
critical to the quest to uplift our people from the throes of lack and
deprivation. These programmes speak eloquently of the concerted drive
of the administration to ensure that citizens of this country are
empowered to live fulfilled life.
“We must acknowledge that no society is truly secure until there is a
proper plan put in place to take care of the most vulnerable. It is on
this note, therefore, that we must commend this initiative, especially
coming in the wake of the novel Coronavirus pandemic that has
disrupted economic activities globally.”
Oyetola, however, called on the beneficiaries to maximize the grant
with a view to improving their well being.
