The federal government has promised to give over 11 million poor Nigerians some palliatives to cushion the harsh effects of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk, made this known during the briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Tuesday.
She said the decision was taken after schools, markets and shops were shut down as a result of the pandemic which has put most of the world on lockdown.
Speaking further, Farouk said the government already has a social register with details of those considered as the vulnerable in society.
She added the register covers 35 states of the federation with around 2.6 million households mapped across the country.
Farouk also disclosed that internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north-east have received two months rations of relief materials.
On Monday, she said the federal government had commenced cash transfer to Nigeria’s poorest households to cushion the effects of the pandemic.
