Social Investment: FG, Adamawa Govt Train 250 Field Officers on Digital Payment Processes
From Umar Dankano, Yola
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, in collaboration with the National Social Investment Programme Agency (N-SIPA), the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), and the Adamawa State Government, has trained 250 field officers on the digitalization of the Conditional Cash Transfer programme in the state.
The Adamawa State Coordinator of the programme, Mary Yuwadi, disclosed this during a media briefing in Yola on Thursday. She explained that the training, themed “Enhancing Sensitization, Advocacy and Awareness Creation for Effective Program Delivery”, was aimed at equipping field officers with modern techniques for facilitating payments to beneficiaries across the country.
“The main goal of the training is to foster effective communication between facilitators and stakeholders, and to address challenges facing the programme such as trust issues and gaps in digital payment systems,” Yuwadi stated.
She noted that the intervention, which began in 2016, targets poor and vulnerable individuals in society, especially women, youths, and men in underserved communities. According to her, over 51,000 beneficiaries in Adamawa State have received payments under the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer Programme this year.
Yuwadi explained that each beneficiary is entitled to ₦75,000, disbursed in three tranches.
“Some beneficiaries have received ₦25,000 or ₦50,000 and are concerned, but the payment is structured in phases. All eligible individuals will eventually receive the full ₦75,000,” she assured.
She also commended Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri’s administration for its continued support and collaboration, adding that her agency is implementing other intervention programmes in the state, including N-Power, Home-Grown School Feeding, and the DVD programme, among others.
Also speaking at the training, the State Grievance Redress Manager, Mary John, acknowledged that the programme faces several challenges—particularly low awareness among beneficiaries and difficulties with digital payments.
“We receive numerous complaints, mostly arising from confusion with the new digital payment system. Many beneficiaries are uneducated and unfamiliar with using ATM cards. This sensitization is designed to bridge that knowledge gap,” she said.
She explained that the programme has moved away from the manual “table payment” system to a cashless payment model using debit cards, which has introduced new challenges that facilitators are now expected to help resolve at the grassroots level.
Our correspondent reports that the one-day step-down training focused on building the capacity of field officers to effectively educate beneficiaries about the digital payment process and the complaint redress mechanisms under the National Social Safety Nets Programme (NSSNP).
