By Grace Okenwa
The Federal CARES Support Unit (FCSU) in charge of Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) has commended the resilience of staff members of the project towards accomplishing the goals of the scheme.
The team leader, Mrs Nnenna Okorie, stated this during the team’s visit to Enugu for Pre Mid -Term Review (MTR), which involves the assessment of the effectiveness of the programme in the state.
Okorie said the staffers had done well ‘despite some unpleasant experiences encountered along the way’, adding that such spirit of hard work ‘is a demonstration of selfless service to humanity’.
According to her, “The programme is community-based designed to touch the lives of the poor and vulnerable farmers across the 36 states in the country.”
She said, “Enugu Fadama is a good structure with the capacity to actualise the Result Area 2 programme, which anchors on food security and safe functioning of food supply chains in the state.
“Fadama has a very good structure to impact and touch the lives of poor and vulnerable farmers in the state. It is a community-based project, and our people deserve the support as part of human capital development.”
Earlier in his remarks, the state project coordinator, Mr Jude Ogboke, said the visit was timely as it ‘provides the opportunity to share ideas on issues that concern NG-CARES programme in the state’.
The coordinator noted that the Result Area 2( RA2) being facilitated by the Fadama deals on food security and safe functioning of food supply chains, and that the scheme ‘is eager to give optimum service delivery to Enugu farmers despite all the huddles challenging the project implementation in the state’.
He said the Enugu State government had been supporting the scheme, adding that ‘the current administration has expressed willingness to provide the needed support to make the programme a success story in Enugu’.
He thanked the FCSU team, saying that the advisory support to the programme is a welcome development.
The chairman of the NG-CARES Steering Committee in Enugu State, Dr Nathaniel Urama, who is also the state commissioner for finance and economic development, said that NG-CARES aims at mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the livelihoods of poor individuals, farmers, vulnerable households, communities and owners of micro and small enterprises.
He said the state government was determined in opening up the state for investors, create employment opportunities for youths, enhance food security and ensure the eradication of poverty in the lives of Ndi Enugu, and assured them that Enugu State ‘will take the leading position in the next phase of the implementation’.
The national accountant, FCSU, Mr Fashola Mutahir, called on the project staff to continue in the spirit of partnership and team work to actualise the programme objectives in Enugu, saying that everyone should work in synergy to deliver on the mandate, bearing in mind the best interest of the beneficiaries.
