Nigerian Govt disburses N130m grant to vulnerable persons in Katsina

The Federal Government of Nigeria has begun the disbursement of N130 million grant to 6,511 vulnerable persons in the 34 local government areas of Katsina State.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, flagged off the disbursement on Thursday.

She said beneficiaries were selected through the Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) programme of the Federal Government.

“GVG was first introduced in 2020 as Grant for Rural Women to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Muhammad Buhari’s administration for the poor and the vulnerable.

“The project is consistent with the president’s agenda of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

Read Also: Nasarawa Govt takes over payment of state-owned varsity salary

“GVG provides a one-off grant of N20,000 to some of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas in the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT.

“This is to empower beneficiaries to improve their productivity and grow their commercial activities to ease them out of poverty,’’ she said.

The minister stressed that Katsina State’s grant is one of the highest in the country taking into account the impact of insurgency, banditry and a large number of Internally Displaced Persons in the state.

“The president directed that 70 per cent of beneficiaries must be women, while the remaining 30 must be youths.

“He also directed that a minimum of 15 per cent of the beneficiaries must be citizens with special needs, including Persons with disabilities and senior citizens.

“It is expected that beneficiaries will use the grant judiciously to improve their productivity, create wealth, generate employment and improve their standards of living,’’ the minister said.

(NAN)