3,718,601 individuals, 991,533 poor households captured in Kaduna Social Register
By: Femi Mustapha
The Kaduna State Government says it has captured 3,718,601 Individuals from 991,533 poor and vulnerable households in its social register.
The Head of Operation, state Operations Coordinating Unit, (SOCU), Planning and Budget Commission, Mr Dogo Biya Sylvanus, made this known in Kaduna yesterday at a one-day Media Engagement on the State Social Register and Rapid Response Register.
He said the figure was a significant increase from the 2.4m individuals from 607,994 vulnerable households captured earlier.
According to him, the 3.7 million figure has put Kaduna as one of the top three states in the country, with the highest number captured in the social register.
Mr Sylvanus defined Social Register, (SR) as a database of the Poor and Vulnerable Households, (PVHHS), or members using agreed poverty and other eligibility criteria within the context of a community.
He added that State Social Register, (SSR), is a sub-set of the National Social Register, (NSR), which being built nationwide under the National Social Safety Nets Project, (NSSNP).
According to him, 464,018 applicants were received while 180,814 validated. He gave the breakdown to include; 71,359 females; and 109, 455 males.
Sylvanus explained that Zaria, Igabi and Kachia Local Government Areas top the number of PVHHS with: 91,279; 74,039; and 65,816 respectively; while Jaba, Kaura and Kudan Local Government Areas are the bottom three: 19,850; 28,200; and 29,558 respectively.
He noted that though well-intentioned and sometimes birthed from the sincere effort of the government to respond to the growing socio-economic challenges of the poor and vulnerable persons in the society, however, lack of data had always made the delivery of social interventions a far cry from its best outlook as far global best standards is concerned.
The Head of SOCU operation said the current situation was unlike the past where delivery of social safety nets to target persons was characterized by several challenges due to the unavailability of comprehensive data.
He added that the government could make evidence-based decisions, stressing that the social register is now helping to put a figure to pro-poor interventions across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.
Sylvanus said periodic updates of the social register would be done to identify those who had been lifted out of poverty, while bringing into the data bank, those who had fallen into poverty.
