In fulfilment of its pledge to alleviate poverty among the vulnerable, the Ekiti State Government has floated a social security scheme for 110 senior citizens and widows in Ikere Local Government Area of the state.
According to the Deputy Governor, Monisade Afuye, the beneficiaries, drawn across the 11 wards in the council, will receive N5,000 Social Security monthly stipend.
Afuye, represented by her Deputy Chief of Staff, Victor Adeniyi, said the scheme was targeted at alleviating poverty among the vulnerable in the council, particularly widows.
Defending the rationale behind the large number of women selected as beneficiaries, Afuye said the available statistics confirmed that women were the worst hit in the country’s poverty index.
The Deputy Governor, according to a statement by her media aide, Victor Ogunje, buttressed the fact that the scheme was in consonance with the Human Capital Development policy of the administration of Governor Biodun Oyebanji.
Afuye added: “During Christmas and New Year festivities, I visited all the 11 wards and made substantial donations and I promised that 10 aged, widows and vulnerable from each of the wards will benefit from this safety scheme that was devised to reduce poverty in Ekiti from January and that is exactly what we are doing today.”
The beneficiaries, she said, were generated by the ward chairmen and councillors.
“I allowed each ward to compile the lists so that the right persons can be captured as beneficiaries. We are also assuring you that those left out will be captured in other programmes to be instituted by the government to palliate the sufferings of the poor masses,” she stated.
