The Federal Government on Saturday recommenced the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme in Lagos State. At the flag-off the 5th and 6th Bi-Monthly payment in Lagos State, the Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Yetunde Arobieke, said that 6,810 persons/households had benefited from the programme since inception.
Arobieke said that the CCT supported the poor and vulnerable to improve consumption, with the aim of reducing poverty, preventing vulnerable households from falling further down the poverty line and building their resilience to withstand shocks.
“The programme is to facilitate the transfer of N5,000 per month to beneficiaries, which is paid on bi-monthly bases (every two months), with payment given to all eligible households selected from the National Social Register (NSR). The livelihood component of this programme is fundamentally aimed at enabling beneficiaries to establish a sustainable means of livelihood.
“A total number of 6,810 beneficiaries from six targeted LGAs (Apapa, Amuwo-Odofin, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos Island and Badagry) have been benefitting from the Conditional Cash Transfer programme in Lagos State since its implementation,” she said.
The commissioner, who is the State Focal Person on the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), said that Lagos State was among the 34 states benefitting from the programme, due to the effort, support, and inspiration of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
She said that Gov. Sanwo-Olu supported State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU), established the Register of Poor and Vulnerable Households in the state, provided office space and the required staff for State Cash Transfer Unit to carry out its activities.
According to her, major benefits of the programme is capacity building, which is built at all tiers to enhance empowerment of beneficiaries’ household to be self-reliant. “The training is carried out at three tiers; officers at the state level and local government level are trained, who in turn cascade the training to the beneficiaries in their communities.
“Beneficiaries are trained on Life Skill and Savings Group Mobilisation and Micro Business Development (SGMB), which is targeted at enabling the beneficiaries to save and form cooperative groups. The training enables them to make financial plans and engage in viable business activities within their communities to strengthen their livelihood activities by contributing their share to the state and national economy,” she said.
Arobieke said that the National Cash Transfer Programme (NCTP) was one of the components of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), domiciled under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. She said that the ministry aimed at responding to deficiencies in capacity and lack of investment in human capital of the poor and vulnerable households.
The commissioner said that the NCTP was supported by the World Bank and the programme focuses on the poor and vulnerable households in Nigeria as identified through a combination of geographic and community-based targeting mechanisms. The State Focal Person said that the identified households’ socio-economic data was subjected to Proxy Means Testing (PMT) for ranking the poor and vulnerable in the National Social Register (NSR).
