by By Elijah Ugani – Calabar
In compliance with the directives of Governor Ben Ayade to update the Single Social Register to ease the distribution of relief materials to the poor and vulnerable people in Cross River State inline with the Federal Government policy,the State Ministry of International Development Cooperation has commenced the house to house engagement of citizens in the villages.
The event which started at the “Urban Village” of Mekenge in Calabar Municipality Area Council, was led by the Commissioner for International Development Cooperation, Dr. Inyang Asibong to monitor the index of the Community under appraisal and examine the verification exercise of the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) progrqmme.
Accompanied by the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Hon. Eric Anderson who isb a native of Calabar Municipality, Asibong said, the exercise served a dual purpose of updating the current register with details of household under the poverty threshold and also follow up on those previously registered to ensure that the previous interventions are judiciously utilized.
“Today we are here in Mekenge Community of Calabar Municipal Council to carry out a verification exercise to update the Single Register for Poor and Vulnerable Households (SRPVH).
“We will also seized the opportunity to further sensitize your community on the deadly coronavirus pandemic and the need to be very proactive in following the preventive measures of the State Government.” said Asibong.
On his part, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism,Hon Eric Anderson urged the community to continue to support the State Government, especially as the State is working assiduously to mitigate against the containment of the coronavirus pandemic into the state.
Some of the potential beneficiaries who were identified base on the index verifications includes Mr. Nsa Samuel William, Mr. Victor Udofia Ekpo and Mrs. Arit Edet Asuquo who expressed delight for being chosen by their community for inclusion in the register as they have been living in extreme penury before this intervention.
The National Bureau of Statistics put the Poverty index in the country at 40.1% with 82.9 million Nigerians living below the poverty line,while In Cross River State, it is 36.3%, which is better than the national average,But Governor Ayade said,the state index is still high and unacceptable ,hence his directive to improve work to reduce the index to manageable percentage.
