Millions of thousands of Nigerians stand to benefits from the Survival Fund introduced by the federal government, in a bid to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
The sum of N37 billion has been disbursed from the fund, as disclosed in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande.
The statement titled, ‘Millions of Nigerians impacted by ESP/COVID-19 stimulus packages’ stated that more than 300,000 people will benefit from a N50,000 Payroll Support for a period of three months.
In addition to that 100,000 artisans will receive one-off grants in the sum of N30,000; while the registration fee of business names of 100,000 businesses will be covered by the federal government.
The statement read, “Highlights of the reports presented to the Committee include the release of N37bn for the Survival Fund covering such schemes like N50,000 Payroll Support for three months to over 300,000 beneficiaries, one-time grants of N30,000 to about 100,000 artisans, and 100,000 business name registrations paid for by the Federal Government.”
READ ALSO: Crude Oil Price Surges Above $60
Akande noted that the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, disclosed that under the ESP, 5.4 million farmers have been “enumerated” to receive support.
And that the enumeration involved geospatial tagging, adding that nearly 73,000 N-Power beneficiaries who volunteered were trained, with 30,000 of them dispatched to 774 local government areas.
“In the agric sector, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, also reported that under the ESP, a total of 5.4 million farmers have now been enumerated to get the support under the plan,” the statement explained.
“He added that for the enumeration which involved geospatial tagging, almost 73,000 N-Power volunteers were trained and 30,000 of them deployed to 774 local government areas.
“For the purposes of funding through the CBN, the minister disclosed that 2.9 million of the farmers have had their BVN enrolment validated.
“Also, the clearing of 3,200 hectares of land for farming is ongoing in several states including Edo, Plateau, Ekiti, Cross River, Ogun, Kaduna, Kwara, and Osun States while rural road constructions have reached about 28 percent completion covering 344 km, linking about 500 markets across the country.”
