By Faith Igbudu
Beneficiaries of National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in Benue State have expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for initiating the programme which has affected their lives positively.
They equally extended their appreciation to the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom for keying into the programme by supporting its implementation in the state.
The beneficiaries made the appreciation on Wednesday when they held a thank-you rally in Makurdi to appreciate the president for initiating the programme and the governor for supporting it.
“Thank you, President Muhammadu Buhari for the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP)” These were the words of thousands of beneficiaries of the NSIP in Benue State.
They also appealed to the federal government whose leadership will change soon not to stop the programme, saying it is uplifting the lives of many in the state.
In his address, Benue State Focal Person NSIP, Dr Terris Damsa, said the essence of the gathering was to appreciate the president for initiating such a laudable programme and to also thank the state governor for believing and supporting its implementation in the state.
He said the programme is worthy one as it has touched the lives of the poor and vulnerable in the society. He said it has given hope to thousands of beneficiaries who before now could not feel the impact of government.
“Today’s gathering is just to thank President Buhari. It is called a thank-you rally to President Muhammadu Buhari. In every country in the world, there are people who need support, especially from government. For such people, government comes up with affirmative policy actions that tend to support the less privileged. And that is what the president did when he introduced the National Social Investment Programme,” Dr Damsa said.
“What we doing here today is to say what President Buhari has done is very correct because since the inception of this programme, it has helped the lives of many people. The programme has had tremendous impact on the lives of beneficiaries in all its arms. Look at the School Feeding programme, it has impacted on the food vendors, aggregators, suppliers and the pupils,”
“We will also need to thank Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, for supporting this programme’s implementation in the state. He never failed in providing the logistics needed for the success of this programme. The office accommodation and human resources for smooth execution,” the state focal person said.
Speaking, Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq, said the programme is one of the federal government’s initiatives to ensure that the poor and vulnerable persons in the society benefit from the government.
Represented by the Chief Social Welfare Development Officer, Joseph Dzungwe, she gave a breakdown of beneficiaries of NSIP in the state to include: Home Grown School Feeding Programme, 6,512 cooks and 400,000 pupils while the N-power programme has 35,191 beneficiaries and 58,963 conditional cash transfer, as well as 9,723 Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP).
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke including Catherine Jekelle and Josephine Aduku said NSIP has wiped away tears from the eyes of many widows and vulnerable women who had no one to help them. They said the programme has opened doors of resources and given many a sense of belonging.
The National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) was introduced by the Buhari administration in 2016 to address the socio-economic challenges that bedeviled the country. The programme’s arms include: N-Power, National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG), Alternate School Programme (ASP), Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).
