Over 600,000 benefited from National Social Investment Programmes in Abia

Beneficiaries stage thank you march, rally
About 600,000 persons in Abia State, including school pupils, have, so far, benefited from Federal Government’s National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP), comprising School Feeding (SF), N-Power (NP), Government Enterprises Empowerment (GEEP), Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and Grants to the Poor and Vulnerable (GTPV), over the last seven years.

This was made known, yesterday, by the state NSIP Focal Person, Chinenye Nwaogu, when beneficiaries, in their numbers from the state’s 17 councils, came to Umuahia, the state capital, to express their appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari. They marched along the streets, and held a rally at Ibeku High School, while commending Federal Government for the social intervention schemes.

Nwaogu noted that while about 500,000 pupils benefitted from the SF in which 4,000 cooks were employed, 35,000 benefited from N-Power, 30,000 from GEEP, and 25,000 from CCT.

It was gathered that from 2018 till date, millions of naira have been injected into the CCT in the state.

Nwaogu said that under the GTPV, from which 3, 000 got N20,000.00 each, another batch has been slated to also benefit.

On funding, he disclosed that the state received, on monthly basis, N400 million for SF, N2.5 billion for GEEP and N430 million for N-Power.

According to him, the NSIP was conceived to address the plight of the poor and vulnerable, adding that the programme has positively impacted beneficiaries’ income, employment, school enrollment, livelihood, businesses, farming and food production, among others.

The beneficiaries’ Spokesperson, Christiana Ogunka, urged Federal Government to continue with the programme.

She commended the state governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, and his wife, Nkechi, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajia Uma Faroop, and others for successful implementation of the programmes.