NG-CARES shifts focus from COVID-19

The National Coordinator of the Nigeria Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES), Dr Abdulkarim Obaje, has said the programme has the capacity to address the challenges of flooding as well as economic and natural disasters by assisting the poor and vulnerable populations in the country.

He stated this on Thursday in Bauchi at the North-East Peer Learning and Experience Sharing event. Obaje said considering the successes recorded so far through the implementation of the NG-CARES which supported the economic resurgence of communities, families and individuals in the aftermath of COVID-19, the NG-CARES programme can be a useful programme to address environmental shocks like the flooding experienced in Borno State.

Obaje lamented the waves of flood recorded this year in the country, particularly the Borno incident, which caused destruction of public and private property and infrastructure.

He stressed the need for a special intervention package to support victims.

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The coordinator explained that since 2023, NG-CARES has been supporting victims of floods and other environmental and man-made shocks in Nigeria.

Obaje further disclosed that from 2021 to 2024, the NG-CARES with support from the World Bank has spent about $750 million where over 9 million people benefited from the scheme across the 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).The coordinator commended the support of federal government and Nigeria Governors’ Forum through timely release of counterpart funding.

In his remarks, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed who was represented by Commissioner for Agriculture, Professor Madugu Yalams, said funds disbursed to the state through the programme would be judiciously used in the area of agriculture, livelihoods support and conditional cash transfer for the benefit of the citizens.

The governor assured of his administration’s commitment to continue to support activities of NG-CARES in the state, stressing the need for other North East states to remain committed to the ideals of NG-CARES to drive socioeconomic recovery and growth in the sub-region.

Although it is the North East Zonal peer learning and experience sharing event, states like Rivers, Nasarawa, Plateau and Niger are participating in the Bauchi zone.

The NG-CARES programme is a World Bank credit to support states and the FCT, where states are only reimbursed after independent assessment of results and verified by the Federal CARES Technical Committee of the federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.