The federal government has launched efforts aimed at lifting 40 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next two years through the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES).
The National Coordinator, NG-CARES Program, Mr. Abdulkarim Obaje, made the revelation at the close of a week-long workshop in Ibadan.
The Nigerian News Agency reports that the advanced training workshop, held in Ibadan, was attended by 440 participants from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Among the participants are: Monitoring and Evaluation Officers, Heads of Delivery in the states and State Coordinating Units of Attention throughout the country.
reports that the NG-CARES program seeks to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the livelihoods of poor people, farmers, vulnerable households, communities, and micro and small business owners.
Obaje said that NG-CARES was an initiative of the federal government, with the support of the World Bank and the active participation of the governors of the 36 states.
He expressed his confidence that the program would have an impact on the poverty situation in the country, lifting no less than 40 million Nigerians directly and indirectly.
“This modest support should have a direct impact on around eight to 10 million Nigerians and indirectly on 20 to 30 million people.
“We are very confident that this will have an impact on the poverty situation in Nigeria after two years,” he said.
Obaje said the program would be implemented across 11 Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs), starting with the social transfer to the elderly, the poor and the vulnerable.
He said it would also involve a labor-intensive labor fee for livelihood, basic service and food security grants for micro and small businesses spread across 11 DLIs.
According to him, the result of the workshop reveals that the states are now fully prepared to receive Independent Verification Agents (IVA).
In addition, the chairman of the Federal Cares Technical Committee of the NG-CARES Programme, Mr. Aso Vakporaye, said that the exercise was not a new package, adding that it was part of the government’s sustainable development agenda.
“So it was when COVID-19 hit that everyone realized that if we don’t act now, it’s not going to be good enough.
“All the main stakeholders came together to design this agenda, with the direction of the presidency,” he said.
