The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq has handed over 40 Operational vehicles for onward distribution to Coordinators of the State Covid-19 Action Recovery And Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES)
The vehicles which were procured by the Federal Project Support Unit of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs were handed over to the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning Prince Clem Ikande Agba on Wednesday at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
The NG CARES is the federal government initiative with support from the World Bank to mitigate the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic.
Presenting the vehicles, the minister thanked the World Bank for coming to the aid of the poor and vulnerable people of Nigeria affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I want to, on behalf of the President and the people of Nigeria, appreciate the World Bank for this wonderful gesture of coming to the aid of the poor and vulnerable people of Nigeria and businesses that were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I strongly believe that the vehicles that are being commissioned today will go a long way in assisting the State Coordinators of the programme in carrying out the herculean task of alleviating the suffering of ordinary people in the country.
“Let me also commend the efforts of the steering committee for N-CARES and the Federal Cares Technical Committee for their efforts in ensuring that the intervention from the World Bank gets to the people at the grassroots. There is no doubt that this assistance from the World Bank will impact on the beneficiaries as well as contribute to the rebuilding of the economy and prosperity in Nigeria. I therefore urge the States and the FCT to ensure adequate utilisation of the vehicles and the resources from the World Bank to bring happiness to our people”.
In his remark, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning Prince Clem Ikande Agba assured that the program under the National Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus ( NG-CARES) will assist vulnerable Nigerians who were hit by the pandemic.
“The FG has approved the Nigeria COVID-19 Action and Recovery and Economic stimulus programme which is a multi sectoral programme designed to provide immediate emergency relief to vulnerable and poor Nigerians, small holder farmers, and small and medium enterprises that were adversely affected by COVID-19 pandemic using the World Bank grant of $750m over a period of two years which is from 2021-2023”.
Prince Agba thanked the Umar Farouq for the special role played by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, her untiring efforts and facilitatory role played by the agencies under her supervision in the preparatory activities of the N- Cares Programme.
Each state will receive the sum of $20 million dollars over a period of two years while the FCT will get $15 million and the Federal Care Support gets $15 million with effect from June 30, 2021.
The hand over of the vehicles is preparatory to the implementation of the NG CARES programme. All States and the FCT are participating in the two-year emergency programme.
Nneka Ikem Anibeze
SA MEDIA
26-05-2021
