Household uplifting programme improves our living standard - Beneficiaries
Following the resumption of payment to beneficiaries of its Household Uplifting Programme – Conditional Cash Transfer (HUP-CCT) in Oyo State, some of the beneficiaries say it has improved their living standard.
The programme, being managed by the office of Hauwa Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, was greeted with positive testimonies from the beneficiaries in Ibadan on Monday.
Each beneficiary’s household on the first component – Base, received N30,000, while those on the second component – Top-up, went home with N60,000.
Our Correspondent, who monitored the exercise in Ibadan South-West and Ona-Ara Local Government Secretariats in Aleshinloye and Akanran respectively, reports that bad cyber network service initially delayed the disbursement.
The beneficiaries commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for introducing the poverty intervention programme.
In separate interviews with NAN at the disbursement, they said the HUP – CCT was gradually taken them out of abject poverty.
A Septugenarian, Aulat Adejumobi and Tawakalitu Tajudeen, beneficiaries from Ibadan South-West Loval Government, said that the scheme had improved their living standard.
Adejumobi said her hope of living long on earth had been rekindled as a result of the monthly stipends.
The woman beneficiary said she had been supporting her household’s financial needs with the monthly stipends.
She thanked the Federal Government for enlisting her as one of the beneficiaries.
Also, Tajudeen, a virtually challenged woman, said she had been receiving the stipends since 2016 when it started in the state, adding that it had really assisted her foodstuffs business.
At Ona-Ara LGA, Madam Iyinola Tumoh, a 70 year-old widow and Afusat Mustapha, 65, said the monthly stipends had been helping them in their petty trading.
The duo said they would invest the money in their respective businesses as usual, so as to generate more income.
Tumoh and Mustapha implored Oyo State Government to replicate the programme to further reduce poverty in the society.
Commenting, Mr Ezekiel Oladipo, Programme Coordinator in Oyo State, said the state was one of the eight states where the programme started in 2016.
Oladipo said it had covered 13,830 beneficiaries’ households across the 33 local government areas in the state.
According to him, the programme has three components: the base – which is N5,000 per beneficiary’s household monthly; the top-up otherwise classified as co-responsibility – such household gets N10,000.
“The third component, which is ‘Livelihood’, has not started; it is a one-off grant for beneficiary’s household,” he said.
The coordinator said all the beneficiaries would be paid 12 months out of the 14 months arrears owning them by the Federal Government.
He, however, said that the ongoing phase would cover six months payment, while the remaining six months would be settled in due course.
On cash mode payment witnessed at the disbursement centres, Oladipo said that the state was not among the 10 piloting states picked to experiment digitalisation mode of payment.
He admonished the beneficiaries to judiciously make use of the money in a way that would make an impact in their living standard.
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