The Federal Government says it successfully constructed about 159 Rural Water Supply Schemes in the North East geopolitical zone of Nigeria this year.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this in Abuja during a press conference on the achievements of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration in the 2021 fiscal year,
The minister said the rural water schemes which were executed by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, are located in the Internally Displaced Person, (IDP) camps, some federal institutions and establishments within the zone.
According to him, in addition to the completion of 12 dams, the Ministry also embarked on the implementation of the Partnership for Expanded Water Sanitation and Hygiene, (PEWAS) programme with the construction of 926 rural water supply schemes in 12 States including Imo, Katsina, Jigawa, Plateau, Zafara, Sokoto, Ondo, Osun, Delta, Bauchi, Kaduna and Gombe.
“Also, the Clean Nigeria Campaign has yielded the following results in the last 12 months, with 71Local Government Area (LGAs) now Open Defecation Free. In the area of irrigation, 96,000 hectares of irrigation have been developed as of 2021.
“In line with the plan to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years, the Ministry has ensured that both direct and indirect jobs are created in the implementation of its programmes/projects”, he said.
Mohammed further disclosed that a total of 57,261 direct jobs an 11,588 indirect jobs have been created through the various dam, irrigation and water supply projects completed within the reporting period.
The minister noted that millions of Nigerians benefitted from President Muhammadu Buhari’s Social Investment Programmes in the course of the year.
He added that the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) which was restructured to GEEP 2.0. on August 24, has registered over 600,000 potential beneficiaries in all 774 Local Government Areas in partnership with the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
He equally acknowledged that the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) is growing strong, adding that the NHGSFP which aims to provide free school meals to 25 million children by 2030 is currently providing meals to nearly 10 million school kids.
The programme seeks to boost school enrolment and improve the nutrition of primary school pupils while sustaining the impact of agricultural and women entrepreneurs in communities.
Mohammed said over 100,000 cooks and over 100,000 smallholder farmers in the local areas where the schools are located have been empowered as well.
“The Household Uplifting Programme (HUP), which has the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), is designed to provide targeted financial transfers to poor and vulnerable households.
“Those enrolled in the programme benefit from monthly grants of N5,000 to smoothen consumption, stimulate demand and ensure survival directly in the household”, he added.
The minister added that since its inception, nearly 2 million eligible households across Nigeria are benefiting from the N5,000 monthly grant. This figure, according to him, is in addition to the 1 million Urban Poor benefitting from the CCT expanded due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
