Nigerian govt announces plans to include families of fallen heroes in CCT Scheme

The Federal Government has announced plans to include families of Nigerian fallen soldiers and members of the Nigerian Legion among the beneficiaries of its Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu disclosed this on Thursday in a statement by her Media aide, Mr Rasheed Zubair.

The minister was speaking when she paid a visit to the Ministry of Defence in Abuja.

Edu said the move was part of the desire of President Bola Tinubu's administration to support the vulnerable ex-service men, widows and the dependents of fallen heroes.

She, therefore, sought for accurate data of the affected families of ex- servicemen so as to include them during the ongoing verification of the national social register.

Edu said further that the president had directed that the national social register be expanded to include those vulnerable groups to enable them to benefit from the social intervention programmes.

"This is in line with Mr President's agenda and I am here to inform you that the programme has been expanded to accommodate retirees of this Ministry, especially deceased families.

"Government intends to support their wives to start small businesses that will help their children stay in school and provide basic health care," she said.

She also announced the creation of the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) which aims to help small scale businesses in the country.

Edu appealed to the ministry to provide adequate security cover for humanitarian workers while doing their work on the fields.