- By Reporter
Register of poor, vulnerable Nigerians now over 15.5 million says minister
..........Over 4.5 million added during COVID-19 Pandemic
By Our Reporter
August 23, 2020 - In a bid to assist poor and vulnerable people as well as households in Nigeria, the government says its has enrolled over 15.5 million people into its National Social Register, a component of its Social Investment Programme.
Of the 15.5 million people comprising about 3.7 million households from 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over 4.5 million have so far been added during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, speaking during the donation of foot items to Nigeria by ECOWAS, said that the register will facilitate the distribution of the received items.
“It is worthy to state that at the onset of the pandemic, the National Social Register (NSR) contained data of over 2.6 million poor and vulnerable households, representing over 11 million individuals in the 34 States and the FCT.
“With the accelerated registration and rapid expansion, the NSR has as at June 30, grown to 3.7 million, equivalent to 15.5 million individuals in the 36 states and FCT.”
The minister noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the ministry in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, to carry out various interventions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the vulnerable and poor families.
Umar-Farouq disclosed that the ministry had so far distributed 70,000 tonnes of food palliative to the most vulnerable in the society.
She listed the beneficiaries to include refugees; Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs), older persons, trafficked victims, orphans, poor and other Persons of Concern.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development coordinates the humanitarian measures of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Ministry has distributed over 70,000 metric tonnes of grains including; rice, maize millet, sorghum,” she said.
Umar-Farouq listed other palliatives distributed to the vulnerable populations to include payment of four months stipends to beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer; loans to traders and market women.
Other palliative include take-home food rations for households of children enrolled in the National Home -Grown School Feeding Programme consisting of rice, beans, vegetable oil, palm oil, tomato paste, eggs and salt.
In a remark, Sangare Sekou, ECOWAS Commissioner of Agriculture, Water Resources and Environment, said the Commission donated 3,999 tones of food items to Nigeria for distribution to the vulnerable households.
Sekou said the gesture was part of interventions to mitigate the effect of COVID-19, enhance food security and address associated risks to sustainable development in the sub region.