By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Jigawa state Governor Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar has has disclosed that the State has witnessed an increment in its Gross Domestic Product ,GDP, following a boost in business activities as a result of the Federal Government National Social Investment Programs intervention.
Abubakar made this known at the ManPower Development Institute, Dutse on Thursday, at the flag-off of the Cash Grant for Vulnerable Groups , the On-Boarding of Independent Monitors and launch of Digitized Payment for Conditional Cash Transfer.
The Governor commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the various Social Investment Programmes which have impacted the poor and vulnerable in the state and have also skyrocketed the state’s GDP from N1 trillion in 2015 to N2.25 trillion in 2020.
Governor Abubakar said that the National Social investment programmes were life changing opportunities to the people of Jigawa state and promised to assist in monitoring and evaluating the programme to fully harness its potentials.
“We have 25,987 N-Power beneficiaries over the three batches while 167,657 households enjoy the Conditional Cash Transfer of N5,000 monthly or N10,000 every two months. We are feeding 935,000 in our primary schools and because of your contributions to the school feeding programme, we are also feeding primaries 4-6. Jigawa state government is adding a little to make it possible for all the primary school pupils in Jigawa to be fed.
“We have 9, 673 cooks gainfully employed and about 5,000 of our indigenes will get N20,000 as Cash grants for Vulnerable persons. No wonder, the cumulative effects of what the federal government is doing with the anchor borrowers and President Muhammadu Buhari’s call to go back to farming has doubled our GDP from N1 trillion in 2015 to N2.25tr in 2020.
We have seen a dramatic increase in wealth in our own state, courtesy of these Social Investment Programmes that you are churning out and the Programmes that President Muhammadu Buhari has brought to our door steps including farming activities. We have never had it this good and we are grateful to the federal government, the Governor attested.
While flagging off the programmes, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq announced that 4,537 beneficiaries in the state will receive a one-off cash grant of N20,000 .
“Our target in Jigawa State is to disburse the grant to 4,537 beneficiaries across the 27 Local Government Areas and to the poor and vulnerable category across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. Using this grant, many of the beneficiaries will improve their productivity and their commercial activity, all of which will help in easing them out of poverty.
“The launch of the Digitized payment exercise is to create room for reliable, transparent and accessible database for seamless disbursement to beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer”.
Minister Umar Farouq charged the beneficiaries to invest the grant in petty businesses which will yield dividends over time.
She also onboarded 80 Independent Monitors who will receive N30,000 monthly.
