The federal government has demonstrated commitment to revitalising the nation’s economy by introducing small businesses to alternative sources of income and capacity-building through the injection of N50 billion into small-scale businesses in the country, the Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Charles Odii has said.
Odii said President Bola Tinubu has graciously approved the sum of N50 billion lifeline to give to about one million NANO businesses across the country, noting that each beneficiary will seamlessly receive N50,000 each under the SMEDAN programme.
The goal is to enable the small businesses to unlock access to more funds and build wealth, ultimately to complement the nation’s economic growth vis-a-vis improving nation well-being.
Fielding questions from newsmen after the ceremony flagging off the programme for Delta North zone in Asaba, weekend, the SMEDAN D-G advised against viewing the special empowerment programme from the prism of politics or other narrow perspectives.
Odii explained: “I am in Asaba to speak to small business owners across the nine LGAs of Delta North Senatorial District and to support them through training and to give them grants to support and grow their businesses.
“The NANO businesses of SMEDAN are those businesses that have at least three employees with a turnover of less than three million naira.
“Poverty does not know political party, sex, or age; a hungry man is an angry man. Yes!
“There is often this undesirable triangle that I’d like to illustrate it: hunger leads to anger and anger leads to violence. This is the reason why we have a lot of youth unrest.
“One of the things we are doing as a long-term solution is to help improve the capacity of our people while the short-term solution is to give them grants as we are doing now.
“My appeal to everyone is simple: government should not weaponise poverty, but let’s reach out to our young people and small businesses and grow them,” he said.
Specifically, the SMEDAN D-G called on the Delta State Government and others to collaborate with the agency towards the attainment of the objective of the empowerment programme, which is to develop the capacity of the small businesses across Nigeria.
“When a small business grows, a family grows. You feed one small business owner, you have fed at least 10 people.
“SMEDAN can’t do this alone, we need the support of the state governments to grow the small businesses in the country.”
The beneficiaries were selected through a rigorous scrutinizing process via a technology-based system that was not biased or based on “who you know,” but purely on merit.
Some of the beneficiaries confirmed receiving an alert of N50,000 even while the flag-off ceremony was on in Ogwashi-Uku, the administrative headquarters of Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, even as the SMEDAN Director-General stressed that subsequent financial aid from agency under the programme would be based on whether a beneficiary puts the grant received into who judicious use.
Odii revealed that the agency has so far covered 14 states, assuring that the SMEDAN train would cover all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to empower small businesses in the country and soliciting the cooperation of stakeholders.
Omon-Julius Onabu
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