Osun extends lockdown by 14 days

• Orders payment of N20,000 to vulnerable persons

Osun State Government on Tuesday extended the state-wide lockdown for another 14 days to fight the scourge of coronavirus in the state.

The State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola made this known during a statewide broadcast on Tuesday.

However, he gave the citizens Wednesday and Thursday to restock foodstuffs.

He said the government will not sacrifice the life of her citizens for economic purposes.

Also, to cushion the effects of the lockdown, the governor has ordered the payment of N20,000 to each of the 25,907 indigent citizens.

The governor directed the immediate distribution of Debit Cards linked to the accounts of the beneficiaries in a bid to ensure transparency, accountability, and seamless process.

The Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Hon. Lawal Azeez Olayemi, made the disclosure in Ile-Ife, where he distributed the Debit Cards to the beneficiaries.

According to him, “the scheme is one of the best social intervention programmes in the country. The governor had approved the payment of N20,000 each to 15,289 elderly citizens and people living with disabilities captured under the Special Grant Transfer (SGT) scheme.

He added that approval had also been given for the immediate payment of N7,500 stipends to 10,618 beneficiaries who are vulnerable youths captured under the Public Workfare (PWF) programme.

He clarified that the disbursement of the funds under the SGT and PWF was different from the Federal Government Conditional Cash Transfer recently launched by the Governor.

Olayemi added that the governor had also mandated the immediate release of the monthly and quarterly stipends to the beneficiaries as part of efforts to alleviate the effects of hardship that the people are going through due to the lockdown.

He said the scheme which started in July 2019 was a partnership between the Osun State Government and World Bank.

“This is a collaboration between the state government and World Bank designed to alleviate poverty, hunger, and unemployment among the people in the state. We commenced the exercise in line with the governor’s directive to ensure that every beneficiary under the scheme gets paid.

“There are two categories of beneficiaries. The first is the set of people living with disabilities and the aged. They are 15,289 and captured under the Special Grant Transfer (SGT). Also, there is Public Work Fare (PWF) which is designed for the youths and the beneficiaries under this are 10,618.