Khadijat Saidu, Birning Kebbi
Kebbi State Government has warned beneficiaries of social grants for petty trades against using the money for merriment or family celebrations.
The General Manager of the State Community and Development Agency, Alhaji Yakubu Muhammad Yeldu clarified that the purpose of the cash disbursement was to empower both male and female petty traders to boost their commerce and increase their profit margins.
He said officials of the state and federal governments would monitor the utilization of the proceeds by the beneficiaries.
Alhaji Yakubu Muhammad Yeldu was speaking on Thursday at the Bunza Local Government Secretariat at the disbursement of funds to recipients under the Kebbi State Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus, Social Transfer and Livelihood grants.
He explained that the COVID-19 stimulus has been designed for women in purdah engaged in petty trades such as frying groundnut cake (kuli-kuli), bean cake (Kosai), local juice (Kunun Zaki), soya bean chips (Awara), and other small-scale ventures.
Similarly, men will enjoy the largesse like local barbers, owners of barbing saloons, commercial photographers, and other petty traders.
The General Manager added that under the first phase, one thousand fifty out of thousand nine hundred and fifty individuals from eighteen local government areas have been selected from the social register of Kebbi state and each person would receive between one hundred thousand and one hundred and twenty thousand Naira.
He explained that the next disbursement would cover the remaining number of people.
Alhaji Yakubu Muhammad Yeldu said the disbursement in Bunza includes beneficiaries from Bunza, Dandi, Suru, and Kalgo Local Governments Areas.
He thanked Governor Bagudu for investing three billion Naira into the scheme which has helped in uplifting the social and economic well-being of the people of the state.
In her remark, the State Programme Coordinator, Hajiya Ruqayya Muhammad Bawa, said the COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus, Social Transfer, and livelihood grants have been classified to cover all sectors of human development.
Hajiya Ruqayya explained that social services have been provided to communities such as water supply, construction of classrooms for educational purposes as well as dispensaries for healthcare, and the development of sixteen markets across the state.
Furthermore, the government has put aside two point five billion Naira for the procurement and distribution of fertilizer and agricultural inputs to six thousand farmers aimed at forestalling hunger and achieving food security.
She thanked Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu for his humane care to the people of Kebbi state as exemplified by his approval for the disbursement of funds and items to beneficiaries for economic ventures and provision of social services to the communities.
Other speakers at the event, were the Chairman of Bunza Local Government Council, Alhaji Umar Ahmad Gwade, the Head of Kebbi State Cash Transfer Unit, Alhaji Muhammad Haruna Gulma, and a representative of the District Head of Bunza who collectively commended Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu for his benevolence and compassion.
At the venue, some beneficiaries were able to withdraw one hundred thousand Naira each from the point of sale (POS) with their individual ATM cards.
The Head of the cash transfer unit urged them to strictly secure their peculiar ATM pin numbers as a safeguard against being misused by unauthorized persons.
