Osun targets 4,000 widows in N20m monthly support scheme

Osun state government, Friday, disclosed that 4,000 widows and the aged were targeted in the N20 million monthly social support scheme.

The governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, said the scheme was aimed at tackling social vices, and poverty and protecting vulnerable citizens of the state, noting that the beneficiaries of the scheme are widows and elderly people who have been carefully selected from the State Operation Coordinating Unit (SOCU) document that was sponsored by the World Bank on poor and vulnerable households.

He said his administration had engaged in several collaborative efforts with the Federal Government to cater for the needs of the poor including the disbursement of cash grants to poor and vulnerable households.

Oyetola recalled that the state had also distributed N20, 000 cash per head to over 5,000 beneficiaries across the 30 local government areas, including Ife-East Area Office, Modakeke, recently.

He said his administration had injected huge capital inflow into various social protection initiatives while also collaborating with the federal government and the private sector to enhance the welfare and well-being of the people of the State.

“We believe that as part of our objective to give a better life to the poor and the indigent, we have given social protection a pride of place, with over 14 social investment programmes targeted at elderly people, the youth, the poor, and school children.

“These expansive programmes and the attendant impact we have recorded have earned us awards from the eras of MDGs to that of SDGs and even prompted the Federal Government to send a delegation to understudy our state.

“All these initiatives are intended to bring all the strata of the society into the welfare net, banish hunger, terminate mystery, spread prosperity and stabilize the economy of the state.

“We shall continue to help marginalised groups such as women, people living with disabilities and the aged to develop income-generation activities to make them contribute to the economic potential of the state.

“We shall continue to pursue programmes that will put the people first, strengthen the weak in our economic chain and achieve sustainable economic development. Let me assure you that as long as I remain the governor by the grace of Almighty God, we will sustain this initiative.”

The state Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Engr Olalekan Badmus, said the scheme was one of the several social intervention programmes being run by the state government aimed at bringing relief to the less privileged in society.