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The project took off in 2012 in Niger and Adamawa with 300 beneficiaries each.
The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, said on Friday that the Federal Government was making exit provisions for 119, 170 beneficiaries of its Community Services, Women and Youths Empowerment, CSWYE, project under the SURE-Programme.
The minister said in Abuja at a meeting with Chairmen of State Co-ordination and Implementation Committee on Exit Strategy for CSWYE project beneficiaries.
He said the project, which was established as a safety net initiative of the Federal Government, would not be complete if the beneficiaries did not exit into pre-planned means of self-reliance.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Clement Ilo, the minister said the project commenced in nine out of the 14 pilot states.
He said Niger and Adamawa were the states where the project took off in 2012 with 300 beneficiaries each.
“The essence of this meeting is to stimulate your thoughts on the generation of ideas on specific exit plans for the beneficiaries. The need to work on our exit strategies has become even more urgent with the suspension of the planned second ramp-up due to funding constraints. If we are to bring in more people on the project, the only way out now is to exit those who have benefitted,” he said.
He called on major stakeholders to ensure that the project became a success.
The Project Director of CSWYE, Martina Nwordu, said the meeting was critical to enlightening the chairmen on the exit strategy.
“The exit strategy is very critical to the success of this project and we do not want to make mistakes about that. That is the essence of this exit plan today. We have compiled and articulated all the exit plans and we would present them to the chairmen of the project in the various states,” she said.
Aliyu Mamman from Niger, who is one of the chairmen, lauded the effort of the Federal Government in empowering women and youths, particularly at the grassroots.
He said most people at the grassroots were feeling the direct impact of government’s effort to impact positively on their lives.
“Now most of our youths at the grassroots know there is a government in place. When we embarked on the sensitisation on the programme, we went to the nooks and crannies of the state,” he said.
He, however, called on the Federal Government to address logistics and funding issues to ensure that more people benefited from the project.
(NAN)
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