•Flag off GEEP 2.0 loans for farmers, widows, others

•FG commends AbdulRazaq's buy-in, impactful projects

The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian, Disaster Management and Social Development in partnership with the Kwara State government has flagged off the disbursement of N20,000 grant each for at least 2,655 poor and vulnerable Kwarans under the FG's Grant Vulnerable Groups programme (GVG).

They also launched the second phase of the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP 2.0) -- another loan scheme of President Muhammadu Buhari that is designed to benefit 6,086 farmers, business owners, widows and divorcees across the state, through the National Social Investment Programme (N-SIP).

This came 24 hours after the State government supported 490 young enterprenuers under the Kwaprenuour (3.0) with interest free loans, where the star business pitchers went home with cheques of between N1.5m and N2m each.

At the flag-off ceremony on Wednesday, the Minister in charge, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, said the cash grant is part of the FG'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 fulfillment project that was introduced in 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of the federal government to lift 100,000 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years," she said.

Represented by the Director of Social Development in the Ministry, Taiwo Adeola Bashorun, the Minister said the 2,655 prospective beneficiaries were drawn from across the sixteen local governments of the state.

"The GVG is designed to provide a one-off cash grant of #20,000 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," she added.

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

She commended the State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for the synergy and how the state subscribes to the FG'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 acknowledge the complementary efforts of the Kwara State Government led by His Excellency 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 added.

At the event were the Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq represented by the SSG Prof Mamman Saba Jubril; Special Adviser on Strategy Alhaji Saadu Salau; Special Adviser on Political Communication Alhaji Bashir Adigun; Special Assistant on Religion Alhaji Ibrahim Danmegoro; Dr. Ghali Alaya; and some of the targeted beneficiaries.

Jubril said the disbursement of grants and loans to marketers and poor citizens reflects the government's comnitment to inclusion and wellbeing of the citizens.

Jubril urged the beneficiaries, who are in different categories, to make good use of the funds and not commit them to frivolous purposes.

State Focal Person for N-SIP, Mrs. Bashirat Abdulrasaq, lauded the federal government for committing huge financial resources to lessen hardship and enhance the living standards of the masses.

She called on the National Assembly to pass into law the N-SIP bill without further delay, noting this will enable the government to expand the scope of beneficiaries of the scheme across the country.

She also commended the State government for domesticating the FG's cash grant policy in the state, which she said has benefited a lot of marketers, youths and vulnerable groups.

"We call our own Owo Isowo (trader moni) and Owo Arugbo (cash conditional transfer). The fact that the Federal government initiated the programme and the state government embraced it is highly commendable," she said.

Highlight of the occasion was the symbolic presentation of cheques and cash to the various categories of the beneficiaries.