By Peregba Jerry
The Federal Government has announced plans to include families of Nigerian fallen soldiers and members of the Nigerian Legion among the beneficiaries of its Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, disclosed this on Thursday in a statement by her media aide, Mr Rasheed Zubair.
The Minister made this announcement during her visit to the Ministry of Defence in Abuja. Edu stated that this initiative is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s desire to support vulnerable ex-servicemen, widows, and the dependents of fallen heroes.
She emphasised the need for accurate data regarding the affected families of ex-servicemen to include them in the ongoing verification of the national social register.
Edu also mentioned that the President had directed the expansion of the national social register to include these vulnerable groups, enabling them to benefit from social intervention programmes.
She said, “This is in line with Mr President’s agenda, and I am here to inform you that the programme has been expanded to accommodate retirees of this ministry, especially deceased families.
The government intends to support their wives to start up small businesses that will help their children stay in school and provide basic healthcare.”
She also announced the creation of the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP), aimed at assisting small-scale businesses in the country.
Edu, therefore, appealed to the ministry to provide adequate security cover for humanitarian workers while doing their work in the field.
Earlier, the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, commended the efforts of the Humanitarian Ministry to support the families of the fallen heroes.
Abubakar pledged to strengthen collaboration with the humanitarian ministry to alleviate the plight of Nigerians.
“Including the retirees in the welfare scheme will go a long way to renew the hope of retired officers and their families and motivate the working officers to secure Nigeria’s territorial integrity,” Abubakar said.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, retired Maj.-Gen. Abdulmalik Jubril expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for including the retirees in the CCT scheme.
Jubril said, “The Nigerian Legion is the last hope for retired officers, and it keeps increasing by the day. We need medical care and a decent livelihood for our members.
This organ of the military, comprising the Army, Air Force, and Navy retirees, needs government support.”(NAN)
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