Ogun govt doles out N5bn to cushion effects of economic hardship

• The governor stated that his administration was not oblivious nor insensitive to these challenges being faced by the citizens
  

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The Ogun State Government pledges to infuse N5 billion into various sectors of the state economy in response to the prevailing economic challenges in Nigeria.

Governor Dapo Abiodun conveyed this commitment during a press conference in Abeokuta, highlighting the government’s solidarity with Ogun citizens facing hardship, attributed to the removal of fuel subsidy.

He added that the suffering was only for a while, “necessary to help achieve a tomorrow of our dreams.”

The governor stated that his administration was not oblivious nor insensitive to these challenges being faced by the citizens.

He, however, promised that, “In this direction and through targeted interventions, we aim to address these challenges by implementing a series of phased initiatives aimed at alleviating these burdens on all our citizens.”

Abiodun further said the state would be providing a minimum of five exercise books for all 850,000 students in public primary and secondary schools.

“Providing a one-time N10,000 education support grant for at least 100,000 pupils in our public primary and secondary schools in the state.

“Providing all 27,600 indigent students in tertiary institutions nationwide with an education grant of N50,000 each”, he said

In the health sector, Abiodun said the state will be providing insurance health cover for over 70,000 beneficiaries to include pregnant women, children, the elderly, market women and other members of the informal sector.

“More specifically, for pregnant women, under our Ibidero Scheme, we would be providing free pre-natal care, an additional N5,000 per birth and free post-natal care in our State Hospitals and Primary Health Care Centers across the State.

“Provision of food palliatives to include rice and other food items for about 300,000 households across the State.

“The state government will commence to offset the backlog of inherited deductions. To this end, we are immediately committing N500M monthly payment towards outstanding deductions.

“It is noteworthy that we have continue to pay N10,000 transport allowance to all civil servants for the last 8 months.This brings our total immediate interventions as a responsible State Government to about N5Bn across all sectors of the State economy,” he added.