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FG flags-off grant for vulnerable groups in Plateau

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The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq on Thursday flagged off the Grant for Vulnerable Groups (GVG) and Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) in Plateau State with a call on the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the funds to improve their lives.

Speaking in Jos, Farouq, represented by the Ministry’s Director of Humanitarian Affairs, Ali Grema disclosed the program is being implemented in close partnerships with the State Government an effort which is a demonstration of a collective commitment to addressing poverty which is the core developmental challenge confronting the nation.

The Minister said, “Let me state here that since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration in 2015, when it inherited a National Poverty Incidence level averaging 70% (NBS), the Federal Government has paid more attention to generating solutions to address the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country despite other economic challenges the Administration inherited at the time.

“This informed the decision to initiate the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in 2015 as a strategy for poverty reduction and enhancing social inclusion among our people especially the women in rural areas…

“Since implementing the NSIP in 2016, it has impacted many lives of the poor and vulnerable in Nigeria positively. The GVG programme was introduced in 2020 first as Grant for Rural Women (GRW) and launched in Jos, Plateau State in October 2020 to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari’s Administration.

“It is consistent with his deliberate National agenda of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.”

She further explained that “The GVG was designed to provide a one-off grant, a cash grant of N20,000.00, to some of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians in rural and peri-urban areas across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, to empower the beneficiaries to improve their productivity and their commercial activities, mainly aimed at easing them out of poverty.

“Our target in Plateau State is to disburse the grant to over 3,500 beneficiaries across the 17 Local Government Areas of the State, which is a significant increase from 1,928 beneficiaries in 2020. This clearly demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to addressing poverty in the State.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that 70% of these beneficiaries must be women, while the remaining 30% is for the youths. He also demanded that at least 15% of the total number of beneficiaries must specifically be allocated to citizens with special needs, including Persons with disabilities (PWDs) and Senior Citizens in the State.

“GEEP is a programme designed for vulnerable and low-income Nigerians who are involved in productive activities but have no access to loans. It gives priority to the most vulnerable in our society including widows, youths, persons with disability and the internally displaced.”

The program has three signature schemes: TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni. The TraderMoni loan of N50,000.00 targets underprivileged and marginalized youths in Nigeria aged between 18 and 40 years. The MarketMoni is also a loan of N50,000.00 given to underprivileged and marginalized women in society with a special focus on female-headed households. Finally, the FarmerMoni is a loan package that provides inputs worth up to N300,000.00 to rural farmers.

A total of 56,742 potential beneficiaries were registered in Plateau State after which 7,018 were verified and 4,754 were enumerated. A total number of 1,083 beneficiaries were finally selected to receive loans. The selected beneficiaries have undergone enumeration and will start receiving credit alerts from Access bank from today.

However, the State Governor, Simon Lalong through the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Danladi Atu and the State Focal Person of the NSIP, Dr Sumaye Hamza noted the State has benefitted immensely from all NSIP programmes and called on the beneficiaries to utilize the funds judiciously.

Atu added the State government has a plan of empowering not less than 20,000 before it vacates office in 2023.

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Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Sunday morning

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Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers;

1. The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced the arrest of two candidates and a parent for falsifying 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results using Artificial Intelligence and other electronic tools. The disclosure came on Friday as the board released scores for 632,788 candidates who sat the examination on Thursday, April 16.

2. Katsina State Police Command has arrested 26 suspected social miscreants in a major overnight operation aimed at restoring order in the state capital. The Command’s spokesperson, DSP Abubakar Sadiq-Aliyu, disclosed this in a statement issued in Katsina on Friday.

3. The Federal Road Safety Corps, Kano Sector Command, has confirmed the death of four persons and 53 others injured in separate road crashes in Kano. The Public Relations Officer of the Sector Command, Abdullahi Labaran, confirmed the figures in a statement on Saturday.

4. Anambra State Police Command has arrested one male suspect, identified as Eric Nwombu, for alleged criminal impersonation and unlawful possession of JAMB examination materials. In a press statement on Saturday, the Spokesman for the command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the operatives arrested the suspect under the IGP’s “Safe School Initiative”.

5. Plateau State Police Command has confirmed that two persons died and three others sustained injuries following an explosion at a filling station in Daffo District, Bokkos Local Government Area of the state. In a statement on Saturday signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Alfred Alabo, the command said the incident was mistakenly circulated online as a bomb blast, but was in fact an industrial accident.

6. The planned defection of Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress has collapsed following disagreements over a proposed power-sharing formula. The consultations between the governor, his Turaki-led PDP faction, and the APC leadership ended in a deadlock after the ruling party reportedly rejected a 60–40 formula for the control of party structure in Bauchi State.

7. The All Progressives Congress, Kano State Chapter, has firmly debunked a statement allegedly issued by a group known as Arewa APC Forum, Kano State Chapter, claiming withdrawal of support for the second-term bid of President Bola Tinubu. In a statement on Saturday by the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Auwalu Abdullahi, the APC described the claim as false, misleading, and a calculated attempt to tarnish the image of the party.

8. Suspected bandits have abducted a traditional ruler, his wife and another resident in a brazen midnight attack on the Olayinka community in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. The monarch is said to be among those recently elevated by the state government.

9. Tensions have sharply escalated in the Middle East as Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, accusing the United States of violating prior understandings amid an ongoing naval blockade. In a statement on Saturday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared that control of the strategic waterway had “returned to its previous state,” citing continued US restrictions on Iranian ports as justification for the move.

10. The father of two victims abducted on Wednesday from a Benue Links bus en route to Otukpo has cried out over ransom demands by their captors, who he said are insisting on N9 million for each of his kidnapped children. The victims were among those seized when armed men intercepted the bus and forced passengers into nearby bush paths.

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Tesla brings its robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston

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Tesla is expanding its robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston, according to a social media post from the company.

The post says simply that “Robotaxi is now rolling out in Dallas & Houston 🤠” and includes a 14-second video showing Tesla vehicles driving without human monitors or drivers in the front seat.

The company now offers robotaxi service in three cities, all of them in Texas, after launching in Austin last year and starting to offer rides without safety drivers in January 2026. In a February filing, Tesla said that its Austin robotaxis have been involved in 14 crashes since launch.

It also offers a more limited ride service with human drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tesla may not be running many vehicles in either of these new markets yet, with crowdsourced data on the Robotaxi Tracker website only registering a single vehicle in each city (compared to 46 active vehicles logged in Austin).

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