The Ogun State Government has said that the N5 billion intervention palliative meant to cushion the impact of the current economic challenges in the country is having direct impacts on the people of the state.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Information, Kayode Akinmade, stated this, yesterday, on an OGTV Current Affairs Programme, The RoundTable.
He said that through targeted interventions, the government aims to address the current economic challenges by implementing a series of phased initiatives aimed at alleviating these burdens.
The state governor, Dapo Abiodun, had recently announced the N5 billion intervention funds to cushion the effect of the rising cost of living and inflation in the state.
The grant, according to him, is planned to be shared as palliatives to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.
Abiodun, during a media briefing in Abeokuta, said his administration acknowledges the current hardship in the country, occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal and the concerns raised from different quarters regarding the rising food prices and shortages, coupled with the depreciation of the naira.
He said that proactive measures to alleviate the impact of the challenges to guarantee the welfare, well-being and wellness of the residents of the state would be implemented.
Akinmade said: “Ogun is the first state to implement the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Bus initiative to take care of transportation challenges.”
“The buses are currently positioned on strategic routes in the state where people are meant to pay a token fee to cover a reasonable distance.
“Governor Abiodun has initiated policies with direct impacts on the people. Evidence is the ongoing educash programme that is planned to provide a one-off N10,000 education support grant for 100,000 pupils and students of public primary and secondary schools. The ongoing exercise is done in a transparent manner such that the beneficiaries have been full of appreciation of the gesture coming from the state government.”
According to Akinmade, 50,000 students of Ogun State origin in tertiary institutions across the country have been captured as part of the planned disbursement of N50,000 grant to each of them.
The Special Adviser added that the administration of Abiodun is also providing health insurance cover for over 70,000 beneficiaries to include pregnant women, children, the elderly, market women, and other members of the informal sector.
