Osun govt begins disbursement of N20m monthly social support scheme for widows, aged

…targets 4,000 beneficiaries 

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo

Osun State government on Friday launched a N20million monthly social support scheme to tackle social vices, poverty and protect vulnerable citizens of the state. 

The initiative, which targets 4,000 beneficiaries, according to the government is another demonstration of the commitment of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola-led administration to widen its social inclusion net, empower the less privileged and raise their standard of living. 

Oyetola, while fagging off the scheme at the Staff Development Centre, Abere, Osogbo, 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 wellbeing of people of the State. 

Oyetola said: “As part of our objective to give 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 governor urged the beneficiaries to engage in productive ventures that will turn their situation around.

Earlier, Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, M.r 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 the society.

Beneficiaries of the scheme are widows and elderly people who have been carefully selected from the State Operation Coordinating Unit (SOCU) document, sponsored by the World Bank on poor and vulnerable households.

It would be recalled that the state government had engaged in several collaborative efforts with the Federal Government to cater for the needs of the poor, including disbursement of cash grant. 

Also recently, the state government distributed N20,000 cash per head to over 5,000 beneficiaries across the 30 local government areas.