FG, Kwara Partner on Empowerment of 2,655 Vulnerable Persons

 Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The Minister of Humanitarian, Disaster Management and Social Development, Ms. Sadiya Umar Farouq, has announced that the federal government partnered with the Kwara State Government to empower 2,655 vulnerable residents of the state under the FG’s Grant Vulnerable Groups Programme.

Farouq said that the programme enabled each of the beneficiaries to collect the sum of N20,000 to boost their businesses and reduce poverty level in the state.

She made this known in Ilorin, the state capital, during the flag-off of the disbursement of N53.1 million  to the affected beneficiaries in the state.

 The minister said: “The cash grant is part of the federal government’s social inclusion agenda to raise millions of Nigerian citizens above the poverty line. 

 “We are here to flag off the Grant for Vulnerable Groups programme (GVG) in Kwara State. It is President Muhammadu Buhari’s project that was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of the federal government to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.”

The minister, who was represented at the event by the Director of Social Development in the Ministry, Mr. Taiwo Adeola Bashorun, said that the 2,655 prospective beneficiaries were drawn from across the 16 local governments of the state.

She added: “The GVG is designed to provide a one-off cash grant of N20,000 to the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians in rural and peri-urban areas across the 36 states of the federation, including FCT. Our target in Kwara State is to disburse the grant to at least 2,655 citizens across the 16 LGAs of the state.

“Mr. President has directed that 70 per cent of the beneficiaries must be women, while 30 per cent is reserved for youths, with at least 15 per cent of them expected to be persons with disability (PWDs) and the aged people in the state.”

She commended the Kwara State Governor, Mr. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for the synergy and how the state subscribes to the federal government’s social investment programmes and other economic policies, especially the proper handling of N-SIP initiative in the state.

“We at the Ministry of Humanitarian, Disaster Management and Social Development acknowledged the complementary efforts of the Kwara State Government led by His Excellency, Mr. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, in the implementation of the N-SIP in the state.

“With this proper synergy, we believe that the target beneficiaries and many more citizens of the state will be on their way out of poverty to prosperity by 2030 as designed by President Muhammadu Buhari,” she noted.

Earlier, AbdulRazaq said that the disbursement of grants and loans to marketers and poor citizens reflected the government’s commitment to inclusion and wellbeing of the citizens.

 The governor, who was represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Professor Mamman Saba Jubril, urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the fund.