Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has formally flagged off the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme, a component of the social investment programme of the Federal Government in the state, also known as Household Uplifting Programme.
The programme is targeted at bringing succour to the most vulnerable and downtrodden people in the state.
Ikpeazu, while flagging off the project at the Michael Okpara Auditorium Umuahia, said the social investment programme was aimed at reducing poverty in the state as his government had always paid proper attention to the downtrodden and vulnerable groups in the state.
He described the project as a ladder through which beneficiaries would climb the rungs of success if applied diligently, despite how small the amount.
The governor, who emphasised that people walk out of poverty starting small, enjoined the facilitators to see themselves as conveyors of blessings to the poor.
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The Abia chief executive office, who made a case for widows, urged traditional rulers to always ensure that widows in their communities were not left with nothing at the death of their husbands, and tasked Ndigbo, especially the wealthy ones to go back to the old tradition of helping the needy.
Young Onyike, the state commissioner for cooperatives, rural development and poverty reduction, explained that the programme was targeted at the extremely poor, vulnerable and aged citizens to provide them access to some form of monthly income in addition to training them for a defined period in order to uplift their livelihood.
Chinenye Nwogu, the state focal person for the Federal Government Social Investment Programme, at the occasion, revealed that 90 dedicated staff had been trained for the programme, adding that apart from entrepreneurial skills, each beneficiary would receive N5,000 monthly.
Okeziem Nwoko, head of the Abia State Cash Transfers Unit, in his speech, said the programme was effective in 20 states of the federation and that they were using six local government areas in the state in the pilot stage.
Emmanuel Eban, a representative of the National Cash Transfer office Abuja, said the programme was being domesticated in the state as the state government had fully fulfilled all conditions set out, adding that the programme was supported and funded by both the World Bank and the Federal Government using the Special Fund referred to as Abacha loot.
He commended the state for being the only state in the South East to implement all the four components of the social investment programme, adding that the programme was working in collaboration with the Abia State Coordinating Operation Unit saddled with the responsibility to identify people in various communities using the community based targeting process and targeted at 17,000 households.
