From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The Osun State Government on Friday launched a N20million monthly social support scheme for 4,000 widows and the aged. Governor Adegboyega Oyetola said the scheme was to tackle social vices, and poverty and protect vulnerable citizens of the state.
He explained 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.
According to Oyetola, 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. He 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.