By Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti.

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As parts of the activities of President Muhammadu to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, the Federal Government has commenced the disbursement of grants to residents of Ekiti State.

Speaking during the flagging off of the programme held in Ado-Ekiti, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development , Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, said the grant for vulnerable groups and other social investment programmes was carried out by the ministry.

The Minister, who was represented by a Director in the Ministry, Mr Joseph Adaraloye, disclosed that a total 2867 beneficiaries received grants of N20,000 each, adding that that  is a programme designed specifically to lift many of the poorest and vulnerable citizens in Nigeria out of poverty.

Disbursing the grants to beneficiaries, Farouk also flagged off the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP 2.0) aimed at supporting vulnerable and low- Income Nigerians who are involved in some sort of commercial activity but no capacity to go on and who never had the opportunity to access loans.

She added that GEEP was captured in three important schematic areas including TraderMoni loan of N50,000, targeted towards uplifting under-privileged and marginalized youths between the ages of 18-40 years; MarketMoni loan, designed for underprivileged and marginalized women in our society and specifically targeted towards Female-headed households e.g. Widows, divorcees amongst other vulnerable groups and FarmerMoni loan scheme of maximum of N300,000 designed to provide agricultural inputs to rural farmers.

Speaking on behalf of the Ekiti State Government, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr (Mrs) Habibat Adubiaro commended President Mohammadu Buhari for his various intervention programmes aimed at ensuring that Nigerians live in prosperity noting that the disbursement of cash grants shows the Federal Government’s desire to bring succour to the financial barriers by the people and reduce the current level of poverty across Nigeria.

Dr Adubiaro urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the cash grants by investing in their businesses to achieve the aims and objectives of government at improving condition of living of the people.