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From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The Federal Government (FG) has launched the Government Enterprise Empowerment Program (GEEP 2.0) targeting 20,850 beneficiaries in Gombe state.
The was inaugurated by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, as part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to fight poverty from all angles and lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
According to the Minister, GEEP is a program designed to create more opportunities for the poor, vulnerable, and low-income Nigerians.
Farouq who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo, explained that the targeted beneficiaries are Nigerians involved in informal productive activities but don’t have access to loans from the formal financial sector.
She added that the beneficiaries include some peasant farmers and petty businesswomen. “It is meant to give priority to the most vulnerable in the society, like widows, youth, persons with disabilities, and the internally displaced persons, amongst others,” she said.
She explained that the program has over 1.142 million targeted beneficiaries for the national level and about 20,850 beneficiaries were selected from across the 11 Local Government Areas (LGA) of Gombe state.
The Minister stated that the first phase of the program that is being launched in Gombe includes, the Trader Moni, Market Moni, and Farmer Moni. He explained that the Trader and Market Moni are to support small business owners with N50, 000 loans to develop their businesses while the Farmer Moni provides between N50, 000 to N300,000 for farmers and livestock business owners.
“The loans are to be paid back in one year and we expect the beneficiaries to be able to stand on their own after paying back the interest-free loans,” Farouq said.
Speaking on behalf of the state government, governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Manassah Daniel Jatau commended Buhari and the Minister. According to him, Buhari’s team has over the year shown their passion and interest in the masses.
The governor urged the beneficiaries of Gombe to make judicious use of the loans to meet the expected economic impacts. “We expect you all to employ and empower others so that the benefit will be collective. We will only congrats you if you succeed and flourish in using the loans,” he said.
