FG to include families of fallen heroes in cash transfer scheme – Minister

The Federal Government has announced plans to include families of Nigerian fallen soldiers and members of the Nigerian Legion among the beneficiaries of its Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, said this on Thursday in a statement by her Media aide, Mr Rasheed  Zubair.

The minister was speaking when she paid a visit to the Ministry of Defence in Abuja.

Edu said the move was part of the desire of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to support the vulnerable ex-servicemen, widows and the dependants of fallen heroes.

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She, therefore, sought accurate data on the affected families of ex-servicemen so as to include them during the ongoing verification of the national social register.

Edu said further that the president had directed that the national social register be expanded to include those vulnerable groups to enable them to benefit from the social intervention programmes.

“This is in line Mr President’s agenda and I am here to inform you that the programme has been expanded to accommodate retirees of this Ministry, especially deceased families.

“Government intends to support their wives to start up small businesses that will help their children stay in school and provide basic health care” she said.

She also announced the creation of the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) which aim to help small-scale businesses in the country.

Edu, therefore, appealed to the ministry to provide adequate security cover for humanitarian workers while doing their work on the fields.

Earlier, the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, commended the efforts of the Humanitarian Ministry to support the families of the fallen heroes.

Abubakar pledged to strengthen collaboration with the humanitarian ministry to alleviate the plight of Nigerians.

“Including the retirees in the welfare scheme which will go a long way to renewed the hope of retired officers, their families and motivate the working officers to secure the Nigeria territorial integrity,” Abubakar said.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, retired Maj.-Gen. Abdulmalik Jubril, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for including the retirees in the CCT scheme.

Jubril said, “The Nigerian Legion is the last hope for retired officers, which keeps increasing by the day.

“We need medical care and a decent livelihood for our members, this organ of the Military, that is the Army, Airforce and Navy retirees needs government support.”

NAN