By Francis Ogwo
The Federal Government has announced that N20,000 will be given each to 12,000 women in Lagos and Kaduna States in the ongoing Federal Government Special Cash Grant for Rural Women Project.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, made this known on Friday at the flag-off ceremony of the programme in Lagos State where over 8,000 rural women received the one-off grant.
Farouq who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Bashir Alkali, stated that the “target in Lagos State is to distribute the grant to over 8,000 beneficiaries across all the Local Government councils of Lagos State.
“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 standards,” she said.
The Minister urged the beneficiaries to use the funds judiciously towards establishing any business of their choice.
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the his Deputy, Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for initiating the Special Cash Grant for Rural Women which is in line with the State’s agenda and reflects the commitment of government to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He said: “Today’s event is a further testimony of our government determination to change the socio-economic development narrative of this country and Lagos State to the level where our women will be the corner stone or center piece of our strategy in fighting poverty through empowerment.
“We will continue to initiate specifically designed empowerment programmes that will assist in cushioning the effect of this COVID-19 pandemic on all the citizens especially our rural women and their small businesses.”
The Governor said the initiative will go a long way in boosting their businesses and assist them to overcome post COVID-19 socio-economic challenges.
He appealed to the beneficiaries of the grant not to see the grant as a share of national cake but use the grant to boost their businesses and trade for greater income.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Monsuratu Ogundipe, appreciated Mr. President and the Minister for providing them with the N20,000 grant to add to their businesses and promised to use the grant judiciously to grow her business and be an employer of labour.
In a related development, the Minister had earlier in the week, flagged off the distribution of the N20,000 cash grant to over 4,000 rural women in Kaduna State.
The Minister who spoke through the Permanent Secretary, Bashir Alkali, said: “It is consistent with the President Buhari’s Administration now vision of national vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years. It is designed to 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 will be disbursed to about 125,000 poor women across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. Our target in Kaduna State is to disburse the grant to over 4,000 beneficiaries across the 23 Local Government Councils of the state.
“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.
“We believe with the complementary effort of the Kaduna State government, the target beneficiaries will be adequately covered within the next few days. I am optimistic that with the support and cooperation of Your Excellency and other stakeholders present here, we will remain on the track of lifting 100 million out of poverty by 2030.
“To the beneficiaries, Let me however reiterate that this money belongs to you and you alone. It is meant for you to use in any small business venture you deem fit,” the Minister added.
In his remarks, Governor Nasir el- Rufai, represented by his Deputy, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, reaffirmed the state’s support and enthusiasm on the initiative which will provide a platform for the empowerment of rural women as part of the social inclusion and poverty alleviation agenda.
“We recognise that this programme is not the first and will serve as part of social inclusion and empowerment for rural women.
She said that the state is honoured by the presence of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs at the flag-off of the grant.
The Governor disclosed that Kaduna State has a robust social protection policy and the main trust is to have a well structured integrated social protection system that is capable of reaching the poorest and vulnerable citizens in the state.
She disclosed that the Kaduna State Executive Council has approved the Social Register as the primary source of data for interventions like the one flagged off in the state by the Federal government.
