The Osun State Government launched a N20 million monthly social support scheme in Osogbo on Friday to tackle poverty and to protect vulnerable persons.
The scheme targets 4,000 beneficiaries to widen the state’s social inclusion net and empower the less privileged.
It is also to raise their standard of living.
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, who flagged off the disbursement, said his administration had injected huge capital inflow into various social protection initiatives.
Oyetola said his administration was collaborating with the Federal Government and the private sector to enhance the welfare and wellbeing of people of the state.
He said: “As part of our objective to give better life to the poor, we have given social protection a pride of place with more than 14 social investment programmes targeted at the elderly, the youth, the poor, and school children.
“These expansive programmes and the attendant impact we have recorded have earned us encomiums and prompted the Federal Government to send a delegation to understudy our schemes.
“The initiatives are intended to bring all strata of society into the welfare net, banish hunger, terminate mystery, spread prosperity and stabilise the economy of the state.”
The Governor assured that his administration would continue to assist women, people living with disabilities and the aged to develop income-generating activities to make them contribute to the economic potential of the state.
He said: “We shall continue to pursue programmes that will put the people first, strengthen the weak in our economic chain and achieve sustainable economic development.
“Let me assure you that as long as I remain the governor by the grace of Almighty God, we will sustain this initiative.”
Oyetola urged beneficiaries to engage in productive ventures that would turn their situations around.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Regional Integration and Special Duties, Olalekan Badmus, said the scheme was aimed at bringing relief to the less-privileged.
Badmus said the achievement recorded in all ongoing intervention programmes would not have been possible without government’s resolve to bring happiness to citizens, particularly the vulnerable.
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