Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun on Media and Information, Kayode Akinmade, has said the N5 billion Ogun State 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.
Akinmade stated this, yesterday, while speaking on an OGTV Current Affairs Programme, The RoundTable.
He said through targeted interventions, the government aims to address the current economic challenges by implementing a series of phased initiatives aimed at alleviating the burdens.
The governor had recently announced 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.
Governor Abiodun, during a press conference in Abeokuta, said his administration acknowledged the current hardship in the country, occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal and the concerns raised from different quarters regarding the rising food prices coupled with the depreciation of the naira.
While expressing a sense of emotions, Governor Abiodun said proactive measures to alleviate the impact of the challenges to guarantee the welfare, well-being and wellness of the residents of the state in this difficult time will 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 disbursements of N50,000 grant to each of them.
The special adviser added that the administration of Governor 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.
“Pregnant women, under the Ibidero Scheme, would also be provided free prenatal care, an additional N5,000 per birth and free post-natal care in the state hospitals and primary health care centres,” he said.
Akinmade noted that provision would be made for food palliatives to include rice and other items for about 300,000 households across the state.
“The state government has started offsetting the backlog of inherited deductions. To this end, the government has immediately committed N500 million monthly payments towards outstanding deductions.
“It is noteworthy that we have continued to pay N10,000 transport allowance to all civil servants in the state for the last eight months,” Akinmade said.