Gombe records success in Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer scheme

Facilitators of the Federal Government’s programme on Conditional Cash Transfer to the poorest of the poor in the society in Gombe state have called for the sustenance of the scheme following its positive impact on the lives of the rural dwellers.

Some of the facilitators from three Local Government Areas of the State where the programme is currently running bared their minds to our correspondent during a two day lively skills training for the facilitators.

These facilitators who monitor the disbursement of the monthly N5, 000 given to these poor people described the program as very important and which must not be stopped due to the positive impact it has had on the very poor persons in the society.

Musa Aminu, a facilitator from Yamaltu-Deba LGA told our correspondent that the programme has truly boosted commercial activities in local markets especially after payments are made.

He said some of the local traders have personally confessed that they feel the impact of beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s programme more than civil servants due to the influx of beneficiaries who move to markets to buy products like firewood, spaghetti noodles, groundnuts, beans, kerosene, beef among many other household needs adding that many of the beneficiaries engage in retailing of these goods to improve their well being.

He cautioned against stopping the programme through whatever means saying it would spell doom and create a lot of problems in the society. According to him, “most of them have gotten used to it in the past six months when the programme started in the State and if it stops, it will have a very negative consequence. It has changed their living standards from their poverty situation to a better life now”.

Another facilitator, Muyiddeen A Baba from Nafada LGA stated that “many of these beneficiaries may have never owned N2, 000 in their lives, and now you give them N5, 000.

“The programme is very organized and transparent in the sense that nobody can touch anybody’s money. Another interesting part of it is that some of the beneficiaries are the aged and physically challenged persons. I have never seen a poverty eradication programme that is as transparent as this, there is no loopholes that will allow politicians to hijack it”.

They however called on the Federal Government to expand the programme to reach other wards within their LGA’s and all the eleven LGA’s in the State. They also called on the beneficiaries to ensure that they make judicious use of the money.