Ahead of next year’s general elections, the Federal Government has said President Muhammadu Buhari is leading the revolutionary of executing the largest social investment programme in Nigeria’s history.
A statement by the Federal Ministry of Finance said the minister, Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, noted that since the inception of the Federal Government’s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), Kaduna State had benefited over N13.5 billion from it.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, Mr Paul Ella Abechi, said the minister acknowledged that “there is still more grounds to be covered”.
It said the minister but emphasised that the Federal Government was committed to the programme.
The statement said Mrs Ahmed spoke at the weekend at the Federal College of Education, Zaria, Kaduna State, during the disbursement of empowerment funds to women of Zone 1 in the state.
She said: “the Federal Government, through the NSIP, since inception, began implementing a number of programmes targeted at improving the lives of Nigerians, especially the poor and vulnerable members of our society. Kaduna State, fortunately, is a beneficiary of all the interventions that make up the NSIP, with investment exceeding N13.5 billion.
“There are over 18,000 N-Power volunteers in Kaduna State in addition to 585 N-Power build trainees. For these beneficiaries, we have expended over N4 billion.”
The NSIP is also addressing the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, which the government said “has so far reached over 1 million pupils in about 4,000 schools and has created a sustainable means of livelihood for the over 12,000 women engaged as cooks under the programme. On this programme in Kaduna State alone, we have spent, on your behalf, over N8 billion”.
Another component of the NSIP, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), the minister said, “has given about N1 billion to almost 20,000 beneficiaries”.
She added: “The poorest of the poor have begun benefitting from the National Cash Transfer Programme. In Kaduna State, 10,482 persons have benefitted from a total of N314 million.”
Mrs Ahmed, who reiterated the need for support from state governments, lauded the efforts of the state government, especially with regards to KADSWEF, which the minister pleaded “is a superb support to our efforts. I have also been informed that the state government has announced the expansion of the fund to N400 million in 2019, N800 million in 2020 and N1 billion subsequently.”
She added: “This is a lot of investment that, if made and properly utilised by the women beneficiaries, will ensure that a lot of grounds will be covered in our strides towards empowerment of women downtrodden, and small and medium entrepreneurs. To those who are yet to benefit, take solace in the fact that KADSWEF has been announced to be an ongoing and incremental programme. Next year may be your turn.”
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