The federal government has disbursed N57.3 million as Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) to 2,866 households across the 18 local government areas of Ondo State as part of its National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, stated this at the inauguration of the grant for vulnerable groups and other social investment programmes on Wednesday in Akure.

Ms Farouq, represented by the Director of Finance and Administration (DFA), Mathew Dada, said GVG is designed to provide a one-off cash grant of N20,000 to the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians in rural and semi-urban areas across Nigeria.

“It is worth noting that 70 per cent of these beneficiaries must be women, while the remaining 30 per cent is for youths.

“Mr President has further directed that at least 15 per cent of the total number of beneficiaries must be allocated to citizens with special needs, including Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) and Senior Citizens in the state,” she said.

Ms Farouq said the event was also to roll out the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP 2.0) designed for vulnerable and low-income Nigerians involved in commercial activity/capacity but have never had the opportunity to access loans.

“GEEP is captured in three signature schemes, namely the TraderMoni loan of N50,000, targeted towards uplifting underprivileged and marginalised youths between 18-40 years in Nigeria.

“MarketMoni is an empowerment programme designed for underprivileged and marginalised women in our society specifically targeted towards female-headed households like widows, and divorcees, among others.

“Then the FarmerMoni loan scheme is equally designed to provide agricultural inputs worth up to a maximum of N300,000 to rural farmers,” she said.

The minister said that about 1,142,783 potential beneficiaries were registered across the 774 LGAs, with 19,155 potential beneficiaries registered in Ondo State and 5,610 selected as beneficiaries.

At the event, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu said his government was highly delighted with the initiative as it would provide the needed capital for beneficiaries in an easily accessible way to grow their businesses.

Mr Akeredolu, represented by his Deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, said the programme would help establish an organic social register for the poor and vulnerable households in more than 2500 communities in the state.

(NAN)