Get Guardian on GoogleThe long-awaited social investment promise of Governor Bassey Otu has started taking effect, with thousands of vulnerable residents across Cross River State now receiving N50,000 each.
The State Coordinator of the Social Investment Programme, Dr Edem Okokon Effiom, disclosed this on Saturday in Calabar, saying payments began about five days ago and are still ongoing.
“Why we call you here is to let the whole world know that the long-awaited social investment impact of His Excellency, Senator, Bassey Otu, has started taking effect,” Effiom said.
The programme targets *150 beneficiaries per ward across all 196 wards* of the state — about *29,400 people* in total.
Of the 150 per ward, *100 are for Conditional Cash Transfer* while *50 are skilled persons who need start-up capital* to begin their trades but have no money to kick-start.
Effiom said the register was built from June, drawing beneficiaries from across the entire social strata to ensure inclusivity as directed by the governor.
“We segmented our beneficiaries into several segments. We talked about the church, the vulnerable members of our churches, we did talk about our traditional institutions, the vulnerable members there, because vulnerability is not peculiar to any particular [group], it is spread all over,” he said.
“We look at the entire social strata and try to deal with all of them, making sure that a high degree of inclusivity is achieved, because the governor really emphasized on that.”
Women groups, youth groups and other segments across Cross River State were given percentages in the selection.
Effiom said the briefing was called to clear confusion caused by a similar programme trending on Facebook, which many residents mistook for a scam.
“For clarification, those who have received their N50,000, it is coming from the Cross River State government courtesy of the benevolence of our governor His Excellency, Senator Bassey Otu,” he said.
He admitted the register is not yet perfect, but said the process has started.
“Even though the register is not perfect yet, no register is perfect overnight, but we have started the process of putting a register for the vulnerable and those who are really in need,” he said.
“Given our particular economic circumstances, the need to pull people out of poverty is very, very germane and it’s very, very important.”
He said officials were still working on Saturday to resolve complaints from those yet to receive payment, mostly over account numbers and BVN mismatches.
“Those who have not gotten, we’re dealing with you because there are a lot of problems concerning account number, BVN, and the rest of them, but we’re dealing with them,” he said.
“Some may say it’s small, but little by little we are making progress. And we are hoping that as the government proceeds, as you all give us the necessary support, we will strengthen the social investment and we’ll definitely improve on it,” he added.
