Rural women in Oyo state as well as victims of Shasha market crises have been given cash grant and relief materials to boost their business and social life.
The event which was flagged-off at the Western Building, State Secretariat, in Ibadan witnessed a large turnout of physically challenged, persons with special needs, people living with disabilities and the poorest of the poor rural women.
Addressing the beneficiaries, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Rural Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq said 5,280 people are targeted in Oyo State while 150,000 people would benefit from the scheme.
The minister who said 992,715,000 million naira had been disbursed to Oyo State in the Social Investment and Social Inclusion Programme of President Muhammadu Buhari said the cash grant was initiated last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier in her address of welcome, Oyo State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Inclusion, Alhaja Faosat Sanni said the Oyo state government had been supportive of various Social Investment Programs designed to alleviate poverty and suffering of the poor of the poorest in the state.
Alhaja Sanni who commended the minister for making Oyo State a true pacesetting state through the launch of the programme, said the state being the political headquarters of the old Western region had played host to a number of first institutions in the country.
Alhaja Faosat noted that efforts of President Buhari to prevent the poor of the poorest from become more vulnerable were being noted and appreciated.
Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, who was represented at the event by his Chief of Staff, Chief Bisi Ilaka, said it is the responsibility of the government to provide for the welfare and ensure the security of the people, stressing that the ability of government to fulfill the responsibility largely depends on the resources at the disposal of the state.
Governor Makinde said his administration had taken proactive steps to provide succour to women and other vulnerable groups in the state by enacting Violence against Persons Law, empowering women through capacity building, discouraging violence against women in public and private life through the reduction of female genital mutilation and encouraging increased involvement of women in politics.
Rotimi Famakin
pub-5160901092443552
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