10,000 aged to benefit from 1st phase of Owo-Arugbo disbursement in Kwara

Kwara State Government has said that 10,000 aged will benefit from the 1st phase of Owo-Arugbo disbursement, noting that disbursement will commence on Monday.

This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, on Friday.

According to the statement, the scheme is targeted at giving succour to indigent and vulnerable adults of 60 years and above in the state.

The statement quoted the anchor of the programme, Mohammed Brimah thus: “After an initial enumeration of a total of 17,941 potential beneficiaries, a rigorous screening process took place for transparency and quality assurance.

“The names generated were compared against the lists of beneficiaries of both the National Cash Transfer Program (NCTP) in Kwara and the Special Grant Transfer (SGT) programme under the Youth Employment and Social Support (YESSO) to be sure only those who have not benefited from either of the two make it to the list of Owo Arugbo.

“We were therefore left with 10,000 beneficiaries as the targeted number for the first phase of disbursement of Owo-Arugbo from the initial 17, 941 enumerated across the state.”

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Brimah noted that payments will be made on a bi-monthly basis, giving each beneficiary the sum of N6,000 naira once every two months, starting with the November/December cycle.

“Elders everywhere deserve care and attention. Many become destitute and lose their lives to hunger, avoidable sickness and depression as a result of neglect. This administration seeks to guide against this within available resources.

“The sum of N6, 000 every two months bolsters the chances of an improved diet which results in greater life expectancy for many people. Unlike Owo Isowo, another people-oriented scheme under KWASSIP designed for petty traders, Owo Arugbo is totally free and non – refundable. It is a social safety net for the elderly and vulnerable.

“Beneficiaries are spread across all the 16 LGAs in line with Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s vision to get dividends of governance to every doorstep,” he added.

Owo-Arugbo is a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) component of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme. The AbdulRazaq administration had in May this year released the sum of N300m to fund the state’s social investment programmes targeted at the poorest of the poor, including the aged, widows, and others at the lowest wrung of the economy.

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