The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development have commenced the disbursement of N113.76 million grant to vulnerable persons in Kaduna State.

The Minister, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, inaugurated the disbursement of the Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) and other National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP), on Thursday in Kaduna.

She said that the NSIP was aimed at sustaining the social inclusion of the poor and lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

The minister who was represented by Mr Yakubu Austin, Director, General Services of the ministry, said that the programme was being implemented in close partnerships with state governments across the country.

“The GVG is designed to provide a one-off cash grant of N20,000 to the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians across the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory.

“Our target in Kaduna state is to disburse the grant to 5,688 beneficiaries across the 23 Local Government Areas in the state – 70% for women, 30% for youths”, she added.

The minister added that President Muhammadu Buhari directed that 15% of the total number of beneficiaries should be citizens with special needs, Persons With Disabilities and Senior Citizens.

Umar-Farouq who roll-out the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP 2.0) in the state, said that beneficiaries would receive a bank alert before the end of the day.

She said a N50,000 non-interest loan would be disbursed to trader moni and market moni beneficiaries while farmer moni beneficiaries would get agricultural inputs worth N300,000.

Earlier, the state focal person on the social investment programmes, Mrs Saude Amina-Atoyebi stated that 13,928 beneficiaries had been registered for the GEEP 2.0 programme in the state.

She said that 9,315 beneficiaries had been enumerated while 4,613 were being enumerated, adding that 6,537 beneficiaries had received their ATM card.

The focal person who was represented by Hayet Lawal, the programme manager of GEEP 2.0, said that the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) had engaged over 7,000 cooks in the state.

She added that the programme was feeding over 735,280 pupils in 3,489 schools in the state.

According to her, the programme had increased school enrolment, improve nutrition for pupils and provide jobs to residents.

Some of the beneficiaries of the programmes expressed appreciation to the federal government for bringing succour to them.

Mrs Mary Ayuba, a widow and a beneficiary who received the N20,000 grant for the vulnerable said she would use the money to boost her charcoal business.

Nusaiba Muhammad, a beneficiary of the GEEP 2.0 trader moni, said she had received the N50,000 loan and pledged to use it judiciously so as to pay back the loan on time.

Another beneficiary, Muhammad Sani, who sells tailoring materials, said he would use the money to boost his business.