By Friday Idachaba
Kogi State Government has commenced implementation of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) programme with training of Local Government Review Committees and Desk Officers.
The programme, conceived by the Federal Government, 36 states governors and World Bank is aimed at reducing poverty and hardship occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic across the globe.
Secretary to Kogi State Government (SSG) Dr Folashade Arike-Ayoade, declared the programme opened for immediate commencement of implementation on Thursday in Lokoja.
The SSG who was represented by Mr Ephraim Amurawaiye, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Yahaya Bello in her office, said that the training of review committee members and Desk Officers was targeted at building their capacities for optimal implementation.
Arike-Ayoade said that the training was also targeted at building and equipping the participants with skills and knowledge to play their necessary roles in community development.
“The training will offer the participants the opportunity to know what is required of them in playing complementary roles on rural transformation”, she added.
The SSG said that through the state Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA), the 2022 Technical Training for Local Government Recovery Committees and Ministries, Departments was organised by the government.
She said that the aim of the training was to enable restoration of the economic and social values that were lost to the COVID-19 pandemic that ralvaged the world.
According to the SSG, the focus of the state government is to ensure that the programme is fully implemented in every Local Government Area of Kogi.
General Manager of the Kogi CSDA Chief Dauda Momoh, speaking earlier, disclosed that the NG-CARES programme had a two-year implementation period adding that the first phase has commenced with 11 Local Government Areas.
Momoh hinted that the first phase was expected to terminate in October, this year, for the second phase to commence with the remaining 10 Local Government Areas as beneficiaries.
He expressed optimism that the training would educate beneficiaries on the rudiments of execution of viable projects with the aim of uplifting the living standard of the rural populace.
He commended community development officers in the three senatorial districts of the state for their commitment to effective supervision of projects within their communities on behalf of government.
The General Manager therefore, implored the State Government for timely release of funds to his Agency for the realisation of the NG-CARES programme.