About 11 million Nigerians across the federation have benefited from the $415m World Bank-supported Community and Social Development Project programme between 2009 and 2021.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, disclosed this on Tuesday at the CSDP closeout event in Abuja.
She said the CSDP initiative reached 11 million direct beneficiaries and an estimated 25 million indirect beneficiaries across 29 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Through the community-driven approach, about 16,166 micro projects in health, education, transportation, electrification and community-housing scheme were implemented in 5,664 communities and 934 vulnerable groups across 543 local councils of the 29 states and the FCT.
She said that other projects implemented during the period included 5,764 classrooms, 1,323 health centres and 4,442 water micro projects.
“This points to the fact that devolving implementation power to the communities has intrinsic propensity to accelerate poverty reduction and recovery of the economy from crises. CSDP projects across the country have records of very good maintenance and sustainability,” she said.
The World Bank Country Director, Shubam Chaudhuri, said, “This really is our aspiration in the World Bank, to help Nigeria build durable, sustainable programmes and platforms that are critical to realising President Muhammadu Buhari’s ambition of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.”
The Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, noted in his keynote address that the huge success achieved through the CSDP has proved the age-long truism that development can only be achieved through the people.
