The Chairman, Senate Committee on Industries and the senator representing Lagos East District, Adetokunbo Abiru, yesterday gave COVID-19 financial support to constituents
The scheme was earlier planned to end last December, but the senator has graciously continued in the new year as the economic problems occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to fully abate.
Abiru said his concern for the plight of the poor during the current fuel scarcity and the food inflation necessitated the continuation of the financial support to ease the hardship of the masses.
“Today, the batch B beneficiaries in the 2,500 pool of vulnerable constituents, drawn across 98 wards in the 16 local governments and local council development areas received direct credits in their bank accounts,” he said.
For 14 consecutive months, people with physical disabilities, widows, aged, unemployed youth and women have been receiving support from Senator Abiru on a monthly basis. The scheme has been on since January 2021.
The #DoingGood Senator, who has been delivering on his mantra of ‘Greater good to the larger number of people’, has been praised for his novel interventions and programmes.
The senator recently established an Innovation Hub in the Lagos East, known as the Senator Abiru Innovation Lab (SAIL), in partnership with a renowned technology and social enterprise company, The Co-creation Hub (Cc-HUB), to train youths in the senatorial district in relevant digital and innovation skills, and build the best entrepreneurs that can compete in the ever-dynamic global economy.
Over 4,000 young people across the Lagos East Senatorial District applied for the SAIL programmes. Currently, over 150 students are participating in the five pilot programmes at the SAIL Centre in Ikorodu, while over 1,000 eligible applicants will be trained online.
These programmes, which shall run for between three and six months, are as follows:
Tech Talent Development – is aimed at identifying young people who are interested in a career in technology. Selected candidates will be taken through a learning plan that will transform them from complete novice to entry level software engineers in six months. At the end of the training programme, they will be qualified for an entry level job or internship.
Startup Accelerator for Businesses – is for young people who have business ideas that can be amplified by technology. The aim is to accelerate their growth with hands-on business support. For those who have a prototype, we will help them with product-market fit as well as build their capacity to be able to attract funding and support for their business. For those who don’t yet have a prototype, we will support them to develop their ideas for the testing phase.
Lagos East Teachers’ Fellowship – a programme aimed at equipping educators with new skills that will lead to better learning outcomes. It is for teachers who are interested in inquiry-based learning, and want to use technology in their classrooms to the benefit of their students.
Business 101 for Artisans and Creatives – this programme is designed for creative startups in the fashion, crafts, or design sector in order to upscale the approach to business in a fast-evolving world. This training will help creatives better understand how to use technology to improve their businesses.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education for Senior Secondary School Students – a programme designed to introduce students between the ages of 13-18 years to the concept of physical computing.
Massive global opportunities and guaranteed job placements await successful participants who deeply apply themselves to the training and acquire the high-demand tech and digital skills.
In April this year, a N300 Million Constituency Intervention Revolving Loan at a low concessional interest rate of six per cent per annum will be unveiled for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the district.
“We shall continuously look out and champion policies and legislative agenda that will be of benefit to the greatest number of our people,” Abiru said.