48,000 Households Impacted By SanwoOlu’s Poverty Alleviation Programmes

servants got allocated 10% of houses constructed in government estates, Comrade Aladetan expressed delight that Sanwo-Olu increased the percentage to 20%, just as Lagos State employees will get a 40% rebate on the rates payable to purchase the houses.

Extolling the magnanimity of the Sanwo-Olu administration during the initial lockdown occasioned by COVID-19, the TUC chief said that despite fears and apprehension that the pandemic would lead to lay-offs and job losses, the Governor fulfilled his promise that no worker would be disengaged.

His words: “These are things we as labour should commend. Within that period, they were getting their salaries as and when due. One thing we should also commend is that there is a specific date that workers get their salaries.” “It cannot be better than what we have seen so far. When you see a government that is actually doing well, I think it deserves to be commended and if there is an area they are not doing well, I think it’s better to come out and just tell them the truth,” he added.

Aladetan also thanked the State Government for being the first to implement the minimum wage. He said the Sanwo-Olu administration was paying above the N30,000 benchmark, pointing out that every public servant received the threemonth arrears that accrued as a result of the salary increment signed into law in April 2019.

Nigeria - The administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in the last two years,has rescued about 48,000 households from poverty through its social intervention programmes under which women got cash transfers and acquired skills. Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) Mrs. Bolaji Dada, who announced the figure, said 1,050 rural women received intensive training in boosting outputs in agricultural production and giving the beneficiaries equal access to markets.

She said the State Government, in the last two years, prioritised intervention programmes that support women in achieving gender equality, selfreliance, skill balance, inclusion in social security systems and stable means of livelihood.

The Commissioner tendered a report of the Ministry’s activities at the ongoing inter-ministerial press briefing organised by the State Government to commemorate the Governor’s second anniversary.

Mrs Dada said the ministry, in collaboration with the Office of the Sustainable Development Goals and Investment (SDG & I), was supporting 2,704 Lagos residents whose means of livelihood had been disrupted by Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. She added that 500 women were assisted with N20,000 each through Rural Women Grants from the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. She said: “In the last two years, WAPA, through the Women Affairs Department, organised series of programmes and activities aimed at improving the status of women in Lagos and making them economically independent. To increase the total GDP for income generation, financial growth and stability, we embarked on supporting women through direct cash intervention and capacity building. “Over 48,000 women from different households directly benefited from the State Government’s mega empowerment project. Our agricultural training for rural women on cultivation of vegetables, cassava planting and cultivation, garri processing and other arable crops benefited 1,050 women. We trained 250 women through an empowerment workshop on intercrop of maize and cassava with demonstration plots for practical knowledge.”

The Commissioner said the Skill Acquisition Department of the ministry yearly produced 6,000 graduates across its centres, pointing out that the unit had expanded the scope of the skill programmes to include production of industrial gas cooker and oven undertaken by the Welding and Fabrication Department for revenue generation purpose. Dada said WAPA collaborated with the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Board (LASTVEB) to review the training syllabus of the State-owned skill acquisition centres; the effort, she said, led to the award of highly recognised Certificate of Competence to graduates of the centres.

The development, the Commissioner disclosed, has created a seamless movement of interested graduates of the Lagos skill centers to further their vocational training in tertiary institutions without inhibition.

She said: “In 2019, our skill acquisition centres churned out a total of 6,252 graduates, comprising 4,200 female. On the day of their graduation, Mr. Governor supported 18 outstanding students with N100,000 each to boost their morale. In the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, students across our skill acquisition centres produced 500,000 face masks for public use.”

Mrs Dada said the State Government was on the verge of increasing the