As part of its activities for the year, the Rotary Club of Amuwo has embarked on 2021 micro- credit loan scheme for beneficiaries in Ojo and the environs.
According to Ikenna Oguejiofor, the service project chairman of the club, the loan is a revolving scheme that the club gives to some of the indigent women in their community that are into trading and what is required of them is their details and familiar guarantors.
The president of the club, Austin Njoku also explained that the loan is basically for women because mothers are key to the nation building, when you train a woman, you train a nation. He further explained that the club identified women in need in their society; they provide this loan to them in order to increase their business capacity.
He pointed out that it’s about women empowerment that gives them the opportunity to make impact in the society that will reflect positively well in their various homes.
In his speech, the project Director of this Revolving Loan, Nwanne Pius Udeh explained that RC Amuwo Micro – Credit Project (Revolving Loan Fund) is a Matching Grant Project proposed by the Rotary club of Amuwo, sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Waunakee and Madison West Town Middleton, USA and supported by Rotary Districts 9110 Nigeria, 6250 Wisconsin USA and the Rotary Foundation.
He explained that the objective of the project is to offer poverty Alleviation and introduce financial self-sufficiency and education for women of Amuwo area of Lagos State, in the course of this scheme they train the women on financial management.
The project has provided micro – credit loans, education and training in customer care, basic Literacy and Numeracy, child spacing and HIV/ AIDS prevention.
The primary beneficiaries are women in Amuwo and Ojo LGAs of Lagos State.
Rotn. Pius explained that the loan started with the seed money of US$12,260 (about #1,635,959 then), and to date has granted a total loan of #22,155,000 to 248 women belonging to credit groups called “Women United Against Poverty”.
This year 2021 which is the 17th year of the micro -credit loan project, the club is presenting millions of naira to 12 beneficiaries involved in various trades and endeavors.
The women were advised to treat the money as their personal money and also pay up as at when due.
They were also encouraged to pay contributions to enable them save by installments so that at the end of the year payment of the bulk will not be too much for them