The Federal Government has disbursed the sum of N57.3 million as Grant for Vulnerable Groups to 2,866 households across the 18 local government areas of Ondo State as part of its National Social Investment Programme.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, made this known, on Wednesday in Akure, at the inauguration of the grant for vulnerable groups and other social investment programmes.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the minister, who was represented by the Director of Finance and Administration, Mathew Dada, said the programme was specifically designed to lift up many of the poorest and vulnerable citizens in the country.
She explained that this is achieved by providing a one-off cash grant of N20,000 to the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians in rural and semi-urban areas across the the federation including the federal capital territory.
She said, ”Our target in Ondo State is to disburse the grant to 2,866 beneficiaries across the 18 local government areas in the state.
“It is worthy to note that 70% of these beneficiaries must be women, while the remaining 30% is for youths.
“Mr President has further directed that, at least 15% of the total number of beneficiaries must specifically be allocated to citizens with special needs, including Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) and Senior Citizens in the state.”
Farouq said that the event was also to roll out the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP 2.0), designed for vulnerable and low-income Nigerians involved in commercial activity/capacity but have never had the opportunity to access loans.
“GEEP is captured in three signature schemes namely the TraderMoni loan of N50,000, targeted towards uplifting underprivileged and marginalized youths between the ages of 18-40 years in Nigeria.
“MarketMoni is an empowerment programme designed for underprivileged and marginalised women in our society specifically targeted towards female-headed households like widows, divorcees, among others.
“Then the FarmerMoni loan scheme is equally designed to provide agricultural inputs worth up to a maximum of N300,000 to rural farmers,” she added.
The Minister said that about 1,142,783 potential beneficiaries were registered across the 774 LGAs, with 19,155 potential beneficiaries registered in Ondo State and 5,610 selected as beneficiaries.
