Breaking -Zamfara, Kebbi Top List Of Poor, Vulnerable Households

BY CAMI EZENWA

The federal government may have laid the foundation for another round of national controversy with its just released data on poor and vulnerable households in the country.

The list which was released by the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) says most vulnerable households are located in three northern states of Zamfara, Kebbi and Katsna in that order, while the least vulnerable households are found in Sokoto, Borno and Enugu, according to the office.

Visibly missing on the list are Ogun and Ektit states but the agency has been quick to excuse that by saying that they were yet to be captured in the computations.

However, it credits Zamfara with a total of 1, 341,153 vulnerable individuals and 291, 629 households, compared with Kebi which has 932, 460 vulnerable individuals in 219, 102 vulnerable households.

On the other hand, Katsina has 807, 200 vulnerable persons in 176, 724 households.

NASSCO said on the lowest part of the ladder are Sokoto with 18, 435 vulnerable individuals in 3, 347 households; Enugu with 27, 000 vulnerable individuals in 6, 886 households with Borno recording 33, 728 vulnerable individual and 7, 130 vulnerable homes.

NASSCO said this base data would be used in responding to COVID19 palliative measures to reach the poor and vulnerable in the country.

According to NASSCO “The states yet to be captured like Ogun and Ebonyi are those still in the process of building their register, adding that the National Social Register is “a gateway for registered poor and vulnerable households to access social interventions or welfare packages by the government, philanthropy, NGOs and/or businesses.

“The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development is using the list to reach the extreme poor with cash transfers.

“The cash transfer is currently paying 1 million poor and vulnerable households.” The Agency also hinted that the Federal Government will be expanding the number of registered households from 2.6 million to 4 million by June 2020”..

As much as the move to reach the poor with pallaitvies has much been anticipated, the figures, may however be a subject of controversy.

Some of the allotments do not seem to tally with long-held perceptions, and this may be the starting point of the dissents.

The implication is that states high on the list are likely to benefit more from the Federal Government’s COVID-19 palliatives which has long been awaited.