… Flags off Fourth Bi-Monthly Payment Cycle on Lagos Island East LCDA
The First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. (Mrs.) Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has charged beneficiaries the conditional cash transfer to ensure that the funds collected are judiciously utilised to sustain the laudable Social Investment Programme of the Lagos State Government in collaboration with the Federal Government and World Bank.
Mrs. Sanwo-Olu gave the advice when she flagged-off the fourth bi-monthly payment cycle for the conditional cash transfer in Lagos Island East LCDA, adding that the initiative anchored by the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment is part of the national objectives of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
She said the initiative was designed to provide a one-off grant to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the rural communities, stressing that the successful implementation of the programme will help to move many out of the poverty index and drastically reduce the figures of impoverished people in society.
Earlier, the Honourable Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs. Yetunde Arobieke, revealed that the State had disbursed N202,430,000 in cash till date.
She said that asides from identifying vulnerable households, through the combination of geographic and community-based targeting mechanism in disbursing the funds, the Ministry had trained 195 Independent Monitors for the integrated National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) to ensure that it is effectively and efficiently monitored and more equitably distributed to the vulnerable in the State.
Arobieke was full of gratitude to the Governor of the State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, for making it possible for the State to benefit from the Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) and National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), under the Office of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD) saddled with the mandate to develop the humanitarian policies.
The Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Kafayat Ajenifuja, revealed that the Cash Transfer Team and NCTO enrolment team left no stone unturned in ensuring that the fourth Conditional Cash payment was made possible.
She also assured that the initiative would be sustained among various other programmes of the State government and urged beneficiaries to deploy the funds to good use.