The Bayelsa Government has assured operators of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus (Nigeria CARES), of its support in ensuring the successful implementation of the programme in the state.
Gov. Douye Diri gave the assurance on Saturday, when a delegation of Nigeria CARES, also known as NiCares, paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Yenagoa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria CARES is a Federal Government intervention programme, in conjunction with the World Bank, designed to alleviate the plight of the people, particularly the vulnerable whose livelihoods were affected during COVID-19.
The governor, represented by his Deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, expressed willingness to partner the federal government and donor agencies to provide succour to the less privileged in the state
He noted that, over the years, the state had been supportive and largely successful in the effective implementation of World Bank-funded projects, including the FADAMA and SEEFOR programmes.
While appreciating the efforts of the federal government and the World Bank for the initiative, Diri, however, expressed some reservations about the implementation of such programmes.
He frowned at the idea of giving direct cash transfer to individuals, pointing out that such methods of implementing the programmes could become bureaucratic and would not serve the interest of the people.
“As regards developing SMEs through hand-outs, there is nowhere in the world where it has worked. If you give people cash transfer, it may not be adequate in the light of our present-day economic realities,” he said.
Diri, therefore, suggested that the state government should be allowed to handle the implementation aspect as it was in a better position to identify areas of need and deploy such funds in a manner that would be more beneficial to the generality of the people.
Earlier in his remarks, leader of the three-man Nigeria CARES Technical Committee, Mr Lateef Shittu, said they were in the state to assess its level of preparedness to implement the CARES programme.
Shittu explained that the federal government, in collaboration with the World Bank, initiated the US$750 million-intervention programme, with a view to providing succour to the poor and vulnerable individuals who lost their earnings as a result of the impact of COVID-19 that ravaged the global economy.
He said US$20 million was due to each of the 36 states of the federation to assist them provide support for their people with specific focus on three key areas — direct cash transfer, food security and micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises.
