Kogi state Commissioner of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Asiru Idris, Tuesday stated that over 1.3 million vulnerable people have been earmarked to benefit from the ongoing Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) programme.
Hon. Idris stated this during the occasion of the stakeholders training/ sensitisation meeting on N-CARES programme and said it can only succeed if all the relevant stakeholders play their part by being proactive in delivering the programme for the benefits of the people.
He said over 1.3 million vulnerable people from the grassroots across the state have been captured to benefit from the programme to reduce the high rate of poverty caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in total lockdown of business activities in the state and the country at large.
“A lot of work has been done in preparing the NG-CARES and we are gradually moving towards programme effectiveness or implementation and that is why we have called this sensitsation meeting to once again share with you the focus of the programme, how it will be implemented and what roles are expected of you as stakeholders to effectively deliver the programme in the state.
In a paper presented at the occasion by Thomas Arokoyo titled “COVID-19 and its impact on the economy of Nigeria,” he said despite the fact that Nigeria avoided a public health crises during the pandemic, the economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic was noticed on livelihoods, food insecurity and sharp drop in government revenue generation.
