By MATTHEW KALU, Umuahia

Thousands of residents from 203 communities and villages in 23 wards in 13 local government areas of Abia State have been chosen to benefit from COVID-19 Rapid Response Register (RRR) recently introduced by the Federal Government to cushion the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on low income urban and semi-urban dwellers.

It was gathered that the National Social Intervention Programme designed by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development with the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO), Abuja, introduced Rapid Response Register (RRR).

Acting State Coordinator of Abia State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU), Mrs Nma Okam, who disclosed this to newsmen in Umuahia, said staff of SOCU would embark on a massive sensitization campaigns to the villages and communities to educate beneficiaries that the programme was not a scam and should be treated with the seriousness it deserves.

Mrs Okam explained that the beneficiaries of the COVID-19 Rapid Response Register (RRR) also known as a shock response intervention by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in partnership with the World Bank, have already been chosen by the National Communications Commission (NCC) through Remote Censoring Technology which would make the programme difficult to be hijacked by politicians.

Beneficiaries of the programme, designed to provide emergency assistance to urban and semi-urban dwellers affected by COVID-19 pandemic, include the non-traditional poor in urban and semi-urban high density locations and slums, low income earners in the private and informal sector, daily income earners such as vulcanizers, hotel workers, petty traders, brick layers, among others.

According to Mrs Okam, the beneficiaries would receive Short Message Services (SMS) (text messages) to beneficiaries who would be required to provide answers to questions in the SMS and send it back to the sender.

“The programme will commence soon through NASSCO in collaboration with Nigeria Communication Commission by sending Short Message Services (SMS) to the identified beneficiaries in the respective identified wards, communities and villages,” she said, adding that the purpose of the SOCU staff town hall meetings in the villages and communities was to disabuse the minds of the identified beneficiaries that the SMS are not scam of fraud and take them through the process of answering questions contained in the SMS, mainly, their bio-data.

She therefore solicited the various community leaders to make the prgramme succeed in their areas of influence.

“As a stakeholder, community and religious leader, you are therefore, expected to disseminate this information to the people under your area of influence that are beneficiaries, that when they receive such messages, they should not see it as a scam or fraud, rather they should provide their bio-data and information as required by the message.

“Staff of Abia State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU) under the Abia State Planning Commission, will be visiting your wards, communities, villages, markets and churches to sensitize the people more on the RRR programme through town hall engagements/meetings.

Receiving the SOCU delegation, the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abia State Council, Comrade Victor Ndukwe, commended the federal government for rolling out the welfare package for the low income earners in the urban and semi-urban areas.

Ndukwe urged those charged with implementation of the RRR programme to be faithful to enable the targeted beneficiaries to enjoy a new lease of life.