- Reaches out to widows, poor, vulnerable in Ushafa, other villages
The genuine intention of President Bola Tinubu’s target to reach out to a minimum of fifty percent of poor and vulnerable individuals across Nigeria within the next 12 months has continued to gain momentum across the country.
Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Minister, Dr. Betta Edu, disclosed in a statement at the weekend that the effort to remove multi-dimensionally poor people out of poverty in Nigeria is being addressed through different programmes targeted at the grassroots, in line with the President’s 8-point agenda.
The Minister who is on the driver seat, saddled with the responsibility of renewing the hopes of Nigerians daily in their millions continues this stride in the Federal Capital Territory communities.
Residents of Ushafa village in Bwari Area Council of the FCT and many other suburbs played host to the Minister on Friday, as she engaged market women and petty traders ahead of the launch of the IYALOJA MONIE next month.
The programme has the target of reaching out to at least 1.5 million Nigerians nationwide.
Excitement was, however, palpable in the air as the residents trooped out in their numbers to join the Minister, as she moved from one petty trader’s table to the other.
The Minister who left the opulence and glitz of Abuja city centre to reach out to the poor and vulnerable people in Ushafa was pleased with the opportunity to interact with those whom the interventions are meant for.
Newly christened “The Iyaloja Market Fund,” the non-interest loan of N50, 000 would be given to Phase 1 of market traders, selected from 109 markets across every Senatorial zone in Nigeria.
The process of sensitization and enrolment is ahead of the flag off next month.
Edu said President Tinubu truly means well for the country and had promised to remove Nigerians from multi-dimensional poverty and humanitarian crises.
Presently, he is matching words with action.
She also used the occasion to deliver a message of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu to the residents on various social intervention programmes of the administration, creating avenues for feedback where necessary.
Also, at a community engagement, attended by the community’s traditional rulers, youths, women, the aged, petty traders, and physically challenged persons, food, and nonfood items were distributed to poor and vulnerable households as part of her birthday celebrations.
She explained that the food and non-food items presented to them were in tandem with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu, which aims to reduce multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria.
The Minister also used the visit to monitor the inclusion of older people in the community, who have been captured to be part of the ongoing Conditional Cash Transfer.
Responding, Mabel Imeh Odiegwu, a tailor, Hassan Yakubu a petty trader and Esther Isa, also a trader said they were taken aback by the presence of the Minister in the community as such had never happened before.
They expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for the renewed attention on the poor and vulnerable in the country, noting that with speed of implementation; a lot was going to change for the better in Nigeria.
“We commend the minister who spent her birthday with us and educated us about the ‘Iyaloja monie’. We are convinced that truly the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President is real and has touched us,” they said.