7,264 vulnerable persons to benefit from FG grant in Borno — Minister

More than 7,264 persons are to benefit from Federal Government’s Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) programme (GVG) in Borno.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, announced this on Wednesday while inaugurating the programme in Maiduguri.

Farouq said the programme started in 2020 as grant for rural women to sustain the social inclusion agenda of president Buhari’s administration inline with its commitment of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

“The GVG was designed to provide a one-offgrant, a cash grant of N20,000.00, to some of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians in rural and peri-urban areas across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

“To empower the beneficiaries to improve their productivity and their commercial activities, mainly aimed at easing the mout of poverty.

“Let me add here that our target in Borno State is to disburse the grant to 7,264 beneficiaries across the 27 local government areas of the state.

“This is one of the highest slots in the country and this is because we put into account the impact of insurgency and large volume of IDPs in the state,” Farouq said.

She explained that Buhari, through his deliberate social inclusion agenda, had directed that 70 per cent of the beneficiaries must be women, while the remaining 30 per cent was for the youth.

She also said that Buhari directed that at least, 15 per cent of the total number of beneficiaries should be citizens with special needs, including Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) and Senior Citizens in the state.

The minister, who noted that the target of the grant was to increase income and productive assets of the beneficiaries, said they were expected to use the grant to improve their productivity, create wealth, generate employment and improve their living standard.

Gov. Babagana Zulum thanked Federal Government for its sustained support to Borno, adding that the inclusion of persons with disability and aged persons was a laudable decision.

Zulum who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Isa Marte, said the state government on its part had spent billions in supporting vulnerable persons, particularly in rural areas.

Zulum said the measures had gone a long way in frustrating the recruitment drive of insurgents in rural areas.

Other programmes carried out by the minister in Maiduguri included the distribution of starter packs to 168 N-skills beneficiaries and digital payment for conditional cash transfer.

She further performed the onboarding of independent monitors and inauguration of the sensitisation to the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).