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Nigerian govt enrols 15.5m persons in National Social Register
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, said on Saturday over 15 million Nigerians had been enrolled in the National Social Register (NSR) to fast-track implementation of the Social Investment Programme (SIP) in the country.
Umar-Farouq stated this during the presentation of food items donated to Nigeria by the ECOWAS Commission in Kano.
She said the expanded register would facilitate the distribution of the donated food items to the targeted population.
The gesture, according to the minister, was aimed at mitigating the risk of food insecurity in the country.
Umar-Farouq disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the ministry in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, to carry out various interventions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the vulnerable and poor families in the country.
She said the ministry had so far distributed 70,000 tonnes of food palliative to the most vulnerable in the society.
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The minister listed the beneficiaries of the food distribution to include refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs), older persons, trafficked victims, orphans, poor and other persons of concern.
Umar-Farouq said: “It is worthy to state that at the onset of the pandemic, the National Social Register (NSR) contained data of over 2.6 million poor and vulnerable households, representing over 11 million individuals in the 34 states and the FCT.
“With the accelerated registration and rapid expansion, the NSR has as at June 30, grown to 3.7 million, equivalent to 15.5 million individuals in the 36 states and FCT.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development coordinates the humanitarian measures of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The ministry has distributed over 70,000 metric tonnes of grains including rice, maize millet, sorghum.”
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