Over 7,260 persons get FG livelihood grant in Borno

Zulum approves workers’ promotion, N30,000 wage for teachers
Over 7,264 vulnerable persons will benefit from Federal Government’s livelihood support in Borno State.

Disbursing the grants in Maiduguri, yesterday, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, disclosed that the programme started in 2020 as grants for rural women.

According to her, the disbursement was to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

She noted that the grants were in line with government’s commitment to lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

Her words: “The Grant for Vulnerable Persons (GVG) was designed to provide a one-off grant of N20,000 to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in rural and urban areas across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“The grants are to empower the beneficiaries to improve their productivity and their commercial activities.”

Governor Babagana Zulum thanked the Federal Government for its sustained support to the state, adding that the inclusion of persons with disability and elderly was a laudable decision to improve people’s living conditions.

Represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Isa Marte, the governor said the state government had spent billions of naira in supporting vulnerable persons, including the ones in rural areas.

At the event, starter packs were distributed to 168 persons with the digital payment of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs).

The minister also inaugurated the sensitisation on the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).

MEANWHILE, Zulum has approved workers’ promotions and the N30,000 minimum wage for Local Education Authority (LEA) teachers across the state.

No fewer than 5,439 teachers will benefit from the new wage, as council teachers’ minimum wage stood at about N7,000.

Zulum unveiled the promotions and approvals, yesterday, at a meeting with leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at Government House, Maiduguri.

According to him, the approval of the minimum wage is only for teachers that passed competency tests in 2019.

“The teachers at the local council level had passed basic literacy and numeracy tests conducted by a committee constituted in 2021,” he said.

He added that 2,389 teachers had no academic qualifications, including secondary school certificates, while 3,815 of could not be re-trained.

On the committee’s report, he said: “It assessed 17,229 council teachers, out of which 11,790 (69 per cent) are unqualified to teach in primary and secondary schools.”

The NLC Chairman, Yusuf Inuwa, thanked the governor for his commitment to the welfare of workers.

He called on the governor’s attention to other areas, including the payment of promotion benefits and leave grants.