Kwara govt gets commendation over NG-CARES programme

Kwara State Government has been commended for its efforts on Covid-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus (KWARA NG-CARES) programme.

Speaking during the fourth round of the Independent Verification Assessment (IVA) for KWARA NG-CARES in Ilorin on Friday, the team lead of the IVA for Kwara NG-CARES, Stiegler Services Limited, Mr. Baba Ibrahim, said that the state surpassed its target, thus, aiding its socio-economic growth.

KWARA NG-CARES is a state-budgeted program using the model of Programme for Results (PforR) to deliver goods and services to the poor and vulnerable groups.

Ibrahim, who said that the delivery is meant to cut across the 16 Local Government Areas of the State, adding that it aimed at providing ample support to the poor, the vulnerable groups, and People Living With Disability as well as Small, Micro-small-scale enterprises (SMSEs) for social and economic boost.

He also said that the IVA was meant to further evaluate the level of performance and results generated so far by the State Delivery Platforms which is the last lap under the NG-CARES 1.0.

Ibrahim commended the level of the state compliance with the NG-CARES implementation protocol and achievement of the results in the previous verification since its commencement over the years.

The Team Lead assured the State that the Team would make sure that due diligence and professionalism are brought to bear on every area of the exercise for a better outcome for the State.

He further commended the achievements of the project already implemented, particularly on the Delivery Platform 1.4 being implemented by the Kwara State Community and Social Development Agency.

Mr Ibrahim said the programme surpassed the target and the purpose actually reached the targeted beneficiaries.

He, however, reiterated that the progress recorded at the State NG-CARES underscores the committed passion of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq in making life bearable for the poor, the vulnerable groups, and the entire citizens.

Earlier, the State Coordinator, Kwara NG-CARES, Mr Olatunde Ibiyinka said the programme implementation commenced in 2021 after the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said the programme was meant to provide succour to the indigents, vulnerable groups and businesses that suffered losses from the effect of the pandemic.

Mr. Ibiyinka, who doubles as the State Director, of Directorate of Debt Management, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, sought support and cooperation from the Assessment Team, especially in identifying the beneficiaries of the program on the field.

He said this was imperative since there is a time lag between the time some of these interventions actually took place and the time of the IVA visit, especially, with respect to beneficiaries of business grants DLI 3.2.

The NG-CARES state coordinator said that the exercise, which was held for five days, was meant to take care of the desk review and appraisal of documents produced and submitted to the Delivery Platforms.

Mr. Ibiyinka said this is with respect to project implementation, adding that the field verification visits and the debriefing exercise, holding presently, was the concluding part meant to wrap up the exercise.

The state coordinator appreciated the IVA team for their insightful and thorough assessment over the week, giving assurance that the state would not renege in maintaining the good momentum and improving to surpass the record achieved against the subsequent projects.