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Cross River State has been commended as one of the best states in Nigeria to have performed above expectations in the National Social Register Scheme aimed at reducing poverty indices and improving livelihood of the state’s populace.
The Commendations came from the World Bank to the Federal Government of Nigeria, for prioritising the National Social Register (NSR), where Cross River emerged as one of the best states In Nigeria at the close out ceremony of the project on the 10th of June 2022.
The multilateral institution described the NSR is a credible building block for social intervention, noting that it was committed to partnering with the federal government to strengthen the Register.
The Word Bank said the programme provides a potent mechanism of achieving President Muhammadu Buhari’s target of taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030.
The State Commissioner for International Development Cooperation, Dr. Inyang Asibong, while appreciating the World Bank for recognising the work done in Cross River opined that the report further underlines the astute response by Governor Ben Ayade administration to capturing seven hundred and eighty four thousand three hundred and ninety seven (784,397) poor and vulnerable individuals from one hundred and sixty five thousand two hundred snd seventy (165,270) households across its 18 local government areas using multiple mechanisms.
The Commissioner explained that the State is placed well on its solid foundation way to reducing its poverty indices and improving the livelihood of the state’s population.
Asibong said state government led by Sen. (Prof.) Ben Ayade also placed a premium on job creation through its industrialization drive and infrastructural development.
The National Safety Nets Project (NASSP), National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO)/ World Bank Stakeholders Outreach on the NSR which held recently in Abuja had in attendance the Regional Director, Human Development, Rena Ringold; the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo; the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments, Mrs. Maryam Uwais; and the National Coordinator, NASSCO, Mr. Iorwa Apera.
So far, the NSR has covered over 48 million individuals, more that 11.6 million households, 134,103 communities, over 8,000 federal electoral wards as well as 752 local governments across the country. Based on the estimated number of poor Nigerians in the country, Mr. Iorwa Apera, in a presentation, pointed that the register already captured over 70% of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) while only 22 out of the 774 local councils are yet to be captured.
