Cross River State Kicks Off Community Sensitization to Enroll Vulnerable Households in National Social Register
The Nigeria Social Register is being positioned as a critical tool for delivering targeted social interventions under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Governor Bassey Otu’s People First mantra in Cross River State which both align with the Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on reducing poverty and vulnerability across Nigeria.
To ensure effective coverage, the Cross River State Operations Coordinating Unit, SOCU, has embarked on community sensitization across the Central and Northern Senatorial District, an exercise is aimed at identifying and registering poor and vulnerable households into the National Social Register using an empirical and sustainable approach.
According to SOCU, proper Information, Education and Communication remains key to addressing low participation and ensuring that the right beneficiaries are captured.
The SOCU team led by the State Coordinator Mr. Bassey Effiom, educated community members on the benefits of the Social Register as an adaptive database for poor and vulnerable persons and how it is designed to support quick response during emergencies, especially in light of climate change and economic challenges.
The team stressed the importance of the National Identification Number, NIN, as the unique identifier required for enrollment and access to interventions and how existing Federal and State interventions are being delivered through the Social Register, and how the database is used to select beneficiaries.
The team visited and engaged stakeholders in:
Yakurr, Obudu, Ikom, Bekwara, Yala, Obubra and Ogoja Communities.
Responding, some participants called for improvements to the program and expansion to accommodate more beneficiaries.
Comr. Udey Aju, Youth Chairman of Umuruya Community, Ogoja, appealed to the Federal Government to increase the number of beneficiaries lamenting that the low number of beneficiaries makes it look like the programme is not working.
"There are many agents doing the same job, but payments don’t reach a significant number of people,” he said.
Chief Afenson Edward of Ayogoba Community, Gakem, Bekwarra LGA, noted the difficulty of mobilizing people during farming season.
He urged government to increase the frequency of interventions and adjust engagement times to suit rural realities.
SOCU however promised that the sensitization will continue to ensure no vulnerable household is left behind in accessing social support.
