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Tag: Yemi Osinbajo

  • Northern governors dump RUGA for livestock plan

    GOVERNORS of 19 Northern states on Thursday dumped the proposed controversial Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) policy for the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).

    The governors who met in Kaduna, capital of Kaduna State under the aegis of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) said the new plan will tackle regular clashes in the region between herders and farmers.

    The governors also resolved to continue to adopt a sustainable and holistic approach towards tackling the security challenges in the region.

    Forum Chairman and Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong said at the opening that the NGF had raised a committee under the chairmanship of Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari to develop a comprehensive regional action plan to tackle insecurity in the North.

    He said: “Another major issue we shall also deliberate on is the livestock management in the country and, in particular, our region, which has continued to generate discourse, controversy, misinformation and even politicisation.

    “At this meeting, we shall deliberate on the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP), which was commissioned by the National Economic Council chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) and seeks to support and strengthen the development of market-driven ranches in the livestock ecosystem for improved productivity through breed improvement, pasture production, efficient land and water utilisation.

    “As a region that holds the comparative advantage in livestock management as an economic and socio-cultural vocation, we need to come up with a common front on how to synergise and draw from the funds available for the programme and ensure that we derive maximum benefits for our people.

    “This is important because of the urgent need to cultivate the buy-in of all stakeholders and provide a conducive environment for nomadic herders and those who rear livestock, using the private/public partnership model to key into the National Livestock Transformation Plan of the Federal Government.”

    Lalong told reporters that the NGF adopted the NLTP, which according to him, “lays out clear path for modernising pastoral activities”.

    He said: “On agriculture, the forum was well-informed about the NLTP and its disparities with the RUGA plan. It is expected that the plan would ensure resettling and addressing the dislocated populations in the key conflict zones to enable them become part of the agricultural modernisation process.

    “In the same vein, it would provide a mechanism for peaceful dialogue and reconciliation in the affected communities towards a harmonious mutually beneficial future.

    “The forum, therefore, adopted the National Livestock Transformation Plan which lays out clear path for modernising pastoral activities. It further encouraged other states not included as pilot states to endeavour to join the plan.”

    On the security challenges, Lalong said: “The current challenges of insecurity which seems to be persisting despite the concerted efforts by all tiers of government was also deliberated based on insightful analyses and the best possible ways to address the menace which is currently bedeviling the region.

    “Consequently the forum resolved to continue to adopt a sustainable and holistic approach towards tackling this challenge in the region.

    “It is the forum’s unwavering determination to rescue the region and reposition it to meet the yearnings and aspirations of our people, especially in the areas of security, economy and social development.”

    Lalong said the forum has received a brief on the almajiri phenomenon in Northern Nigeria, which he said, is not only endemic but pandemic.

    Read Also: Zamfara to spend N8.6b on RUGA settlement

    He said: “We noted the challenges of the system despite its conception on high religious and moral importance. Currently, many children are increasingly exposed to vulnerability and resultant exploitation, thereby making them susceptible to criminal activities.

    “The forum after in-depth discussions, resolved to collaborate with experts in this field with a view to finding implementable recommendations to solve the almajiri phenomenon and take children out of the streets.”

    Benue State Deputy Governor Benson Abuonu gave a condition for the implementation of NLTP.

    The deputy governor, who represented Governor Samuel Ortom at the meeting, said: “One thing is fundamental, as far as the implementation  is concerned, whichever state that has keyed into the programme will have it as its own programme, in other words it is going to be owned by the state even if some help regarding the funding is going to come from the Federal Government.

    “Of course, it depends on whichever state is willing to key into it. But at this initial stage, there are seven states at the pilot stage but with regards to Benue, whatever is going to happen in this area of animal husbandry that thing has to be in conformity with the local laws of Benue that is in existence.

    “Principally that law says there should be no open grazing and there should be ranching of animals that anybody is going to rear.

    “Therefore, as long as the programme is in conformity with our laws then it would be acceptable to us.”

  • FG to establish 37 MSMEs clusters across Nigeria – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Federal Government has commenced the process of stashing clusters for small businesses in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.

    Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said the vice president spoke on Thursday in Birnin Kebbi at the inauguration of the national Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Clinic, the 24th in the series.

    Osinbajo said the gesture was in consolidation of the efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in growing the MSMEs sector in Nigeria.

    “One of the Next Level projects which we intend to do for MSMEs is what we call Shared Facilities for MSMEs.

    ” We plan to have 37 clusters across the nation; this will provide opportunity for MSMEs to walk into fully equipped clusters with specific facilities for end-to-end production of their products.

    “So, the Federal Government has identified a minimum of one cluster per state and in Kebbi State we have the commercial fishing cluster to be commissioned in next year by over 9000 MSMEs to access daily.”

    Speaking further on the resourcefulness of the Nigerian youth, the vice president said their talents and creativity were all that countries required achieving greatness.

    He said that one of the things that emerged from just going around  Kebbi State and all over the country was, the evidence that there was creativity,  talent and so much enterprise and people were prepared to work hard.

    “Young and old, people are making their contributions to the development of the economy and that is what makes countries great.

    “It is the individual work of small businesses, young entrepreneurs that make counties great all over the world,” he said.

    He urged all Federal Government regulatory agencies to see themselves first as facilitators of business and not obstacles, noting that they were not just revenue generating agencies.

    At the Birnin Kebbi Central Market, where about 7,201 traders received the N10, 000 interest free loans under the TraderMoni scheme,  Osinbajo assured them of the Federal Government’s continued support for petty traders.

    According to him, the president wants each person who is working hard to have something for their trade.

    Read Also: Osinbajo kick-starts livestock transformation plan

    A total of 21,703 beneficiaries have been impacted under the Marketmoni scheme in Kebbi State, while 47,041 beneficiaries have received various sums under TraderMoni scheme across the state.

    During a courtesy visit to the palace of the Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji  Bashar,  Osinbajo urged the people to continue to coexist peacefully as surest way to prosperity.

    In his remarks, Bashar thanked the vice president for his leadership style and consistent messages on peace and unity, adding that it was the panacea for a prosperous  Nigeria.

    “Nigeria is a great country but to achieve what we desire, all what we need is what the vice president said -to come together, forget about our religious difference seeing that we are all Nigerians.

    “I love the way you managed the country when the president was away.

    ” I love how you go around the country trying to make peace,” the traditional ruler said.

    Osinbajo also paid a visit to the family of Abubakar Bunza, a beneficiary of the N-Agro programme, one of the components of the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programmes.

    Through his intervention, Bunza has tackled the problems of farming, poultry and livestock in communities around him.

     

    NAN

  • Osinbajo kick-starts livestock transformation plan

    VICE-PRESIDENT Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday inaugurated the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) in Adamawa State.

    He explained that the programme has nothing to do with the controversial Ruga.

    The ceremony held at the Gongoshi Grazing Reserve in Mayo-Belwa Local Government Area.

    Osinbajo said the programme is a well thought out scheme for effective use of land and water in a peaceful atmosphere.

    A lot of controversy had trailed the introduction of the programme with many residents insinuating that the NLTP is another name for Ruga Settlement scheme, which has long been discarded by the Federal Government.

    At the venue of the ceremony, some cultural groups that entertain guests carried placards and banners, stating conditions for the implementation of the programme.

    Inscriptions on the placards included ‘No settlement for non-cattle Fulani’ and ‘No to mobile livestock husbandry’; others warned against allowing non-indigenous Fulani herders to benefit from the programme meant for the state.

    The Vice-President, apparently conscious of the mood of the people, assured that the NLTP is tailored to build peace in communities and prevent the herdsmen/farmers’ conflicts that have troubled many states, including Adamawa.

    He said the plan was drawn up in the height of the crisis to find a suitable way around it.

    “Each state will determine its own model. This is not Ruga,” Osinbajo said.

    Read Also: Osinbajo to attend African Green Revolution Forum in Ghana

    The Vice-President said the Federal Government had not come to take any land in Adamawa but had allowed the state to decide on its own what land to allocate to the programme and how the programme would run.

    Governor Ahmadu Fintiri also assured the residents that the NLTP has nothing to do with Ruga but a project he was convinced has the answers to perennial clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

    The governor said he constituted a six-man committee within his first month in office to implement the programme in the state because of his belief in its potential to promote peaceful co-existence and grow the economy.

    The Chairman of the Adamawa State Committee for the implementation of the NLTP, Prof Alikidon Voh, noted that out of Nigeria’s 415 grazing reserves, Adamawa State has 69, the highest number, out of which 38 had been gazetted.

    He added that of the gazetted number, five had been earmarked for implementation of the NLTP in the state, including the Gongoshi Grazing Reserve and reserves in Jada, Song, Gombi and Maiha local government areas.

  • ‘Nigeria loses $10bn annually for neglecting agric sector’

    NIGERIA is losing $10 billion annually for neglecting the agricultural sector to depend on oil as the mainstay of its economy, the World Bank has said.

    The bank’s Senior Agric Economist, Dr. Adetunji Oredipe, dropped the hint on Thursday in his key note address at Sterling Bank’s agriculture summit in Abuja.

    Dr. Oredipe lamented that, had Nigeria held on to its market share in palm oil, cocoa, groundnut and cotton where it had comparative advantage decades ago, it would be earning at least $10 billion per year from these commodities.

    At the agric summit, themed: “Agriculture- your piece of $1 trillion economy”, it was revealed that Sterling Bank Plc’s commitment to agriculture financing in the past seven years now stands at N55 billion.

    For abandoning agriculture, the World Bank official noted that Nigeria now ranks as one of the largest food importers in the world.

    He said: “In 2016 alone, Nigeria spent $965 million on the importation of wheat, $39.7 million to import rice and $100.2 million on sugar imports.  The decision to spend $655 million on fish importation seems financially indiscreet, given all the marine resources, rivers, lakes, and creeks in Nigeria.

    “None of the above transactions is fiscally, economically, or politically sustainable. Nigeria is tragically living on borrowed time, a typical case of robbing Paul to pay Peter.

    He went on to state that “each time we spend money to import rice, Nigerian local rice farmers are negatively affected in terms of morale, sales, and realisable income.”

    The country’s failure to make full use of her potential in agriculture, he said, “is responsible for poor quality life of her majority of populace.”

    The World Bank agricultural expert said: “Nigeria has not been able to engender meaningful development in spite of her huge resources’ endowment.

    “This problem has greatly affected her quest for improved quality of life for Nigerians. Nigeria has huge agricultural potential evidenced by an arable land potential of 98 million ha, out of which 74 million ha is cultivatable. Sadly, till to-date, Nigeria’s agricultural potential remains untapped. Only 34 million ha (being 48 per cent) is currently being cultivated for agricultural uses.

    “According to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the value of agriculture in Nigeria at constant 2010 dollars was 110 billion dollars (World Bank, 2016). This is projected to grow to 256 billion dollars by 2030. The growth is expected to come from yield expansion (44 per cent), area expansion (33 per cent) and diversification into high value crops (23 per cent).

    Read Also: AfCFTA may affect agric sector, says Sterling Bank

    “In spite of this huge agricultural potential, Nigeria which used to be the major player in agriculture in the world has lost its place in the global community. In the 1960s we had glory.

    “That glory was visible and significant for the global community to recognise and applaud. Nigeria accounted for 42 per cent of the world’s exports of shelled groundnuts. Our total export volume was 502, 000 MT. This declined to 356 MT by 2016 (FAOSTSAT, 2016).”

    Oredipe, however, called for the overhauling of policies by articulating a clear vision to “achieve a hunger-free Nigeria, through an agricultural sector that drives income growth, accelerates achievement of food and nutritional security, generates employment and transforms Nigeria into a leading player in global food markets”.

    “Nigeria’s vision”, he suggested, “should be to revive the rural economy by transforming Nigeria into an agriculturally industrialized economy, create wealth, jobs, and markets for farmers. We must adopt an ambitious agricultural promotion strategy, one that is focused on a combination of transformational policy reforms and private capital investments with a promise to expand the benefits to millions of Nigerians.”

    Opening the summit, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who pledged restated government’s commitment to developing agriculture, a cardinal sector of economic diversification programme of the government.

    He was represented by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mustapha Baba Shehuri,

    He said: “Our agenda is to guarantee the vibrancy of the sector; agriculture must be seen as a business and haven for investment. We are integrating food production, storage, food processing and industrial manufacturing to establish the linkages necessary in the agricultural commodity value chain.”

    The bank’s Managing Director, Abubakar Suleiman, told the audience that Sterling Bank has committed over N55 billion financial support to agricultural sector in the last seven years.

    He also said the bank has set up farmer’s radio, to assist farmers’ access to information. The radio station he said is currently broadcasting in 13 stations.

    The bank’s Chairman, Asue Igholalo, stressed that the revitalisation of the agriculture sector is a key project to ensure national development adding the sector has not attracted the funding required for its maximum productivity.

    Igholalo further lamented the huge loss recorded in the sector due to unfixed infrastructure and finance deficit adding that efforts geared towards improving the sector should be promoted to ensure production of food for the people and for export.

    He said: “Sterling bank as a show of its commitment to the agricultural sector offers 10 percent loan to boost the activities in the sector.”

  • Nigeria draws red line with South Africa over killings

    THE unabated xenophobic attacks have sparked a diplomatic row between Africa’s giant economies – Nigeria and South Africa.

    The Federal Government is considering a full range of measures in retaliation for the killing of Nigerians including a withdrawal of its high commissioner.

    Nigerians have been worse-hit by the killings and attacks on foreigners’ businesses in South Africa.

    About two hundred Nigerians have been killed in recent years and millions of dollars lost to attacks on businesses.

    Nigeria and some African countries boycotted the World Economic Forum (WEF) which began in Cape Town on Wednesday.

    A report by the envoy despatched to Pretoria to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa will guide the Federal Government’s further action.

    President Muhammadu Buhari met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Foreign Affairs Geofrey Onyema on Wednesday on the continuous attacks on Nigerians in South Africa and the reaction of Nigerians who angrily attacked businesses linked to South Africa across the country.

    The minister, who spoke to the media after meeting with the President and vice president, said a red line had been drawn with South Africa, where almost 200 Nigerians.

    According to him, recalling the Nigerian High Commisioner “is one of the options we are considering.”

    He explained that the envoy sent to Pretoria “will need to come back. But, we feel he (the high commissioner) should come back after the envoy has gone there, so that Mr. President will also have the benefits of the full and comprehensive brief from all the individuals who have the position to have seen things at a close range.” He however did not name the envoy.

    Onyema said Prof. Osinbajo boycotted the WEF because of the tension unleashed by the xenophobic attacks.

    The minister said the Nigerian government would insist on full compensation for Nigerian victims of the xenophobic attacks.

    He said: “We have made it clear that what has happened in South Africa is totally unacceptable. We will not accept it and as I said earlier, enough is enough and we are not going to come back to this. We are going to address it once and for all.

    “We are going to draw a red line here. Whatever measures that needs to be taken to ensure the safety of Nigerians in South Africa, we will take.

    “We have been in touch with the South African government at the very highest level with the President of South Africa as to what we want to achieve. The special envoy has very clear directives about the commitment and the guarantees that we expect from the South African government.

    “Of course, a lot of things have been circulating in social media which have not helped matters. Some of them have really distorted the situation that has impacted in our response.

    “So, number one is that the information we have from the High Commission, from the Consul-General in South Africa is that no Nigerian life has been lost during this (current) crisis.

    “I think that is very important because on social media, there is a lot of stories going around of Nigerians being killed, jumping off buildings and being burnt. This is not the case. What we know is that premises, shops of Nigerians have been looted and property destroyed.”

    He also pointed out that the President was taken aback by the retaliatory act of vandalism that has taken place in Nigeria.

    The government, he said, believed that Nigerians have to take the moral high ground on the matter.

    Onyeama said: “We are victims here and have made that position clear to the international community and to the South African government. We here in Nigeria must not fall into the temptation of also resorting to the acts that we are condemning in others.”

    Read Also: Uproar over killing of Nigerians in South Africa

    Noting that the President had pleaded with Nigerians, he said that President Buhari is likely to make a statement on this.

    He urged Nigerians to desist from vandalism, aggression and destruction of property.

    “Now, these businesses- Shoprite, MTN and others, yes, they are South African. But, these are subsidiaries in Nigeria owned by Nigerians. So, as attacks are made against shoprite and other such institutions, it is actually the property owned by Nigerians within Nigeria and the people working there are Nigerians.

    “So, the people that will suffer from those acts of vandalism and aggression are not South Africans or anyone else but Nigerians. But morally, it is wrong not even because of who will suffer and not suffer.

    “Mr. President is appealing to Nigerians, the government is acting, we cannot state everything in public domain with regards to what we are doing obviously.

    “But, we want to assure all Nigerians that this government is determined that the red line has been drawn and we will not give in on this occasion and that the South African government has to assumed its responsibilities and do the right thing, protect Nigerians and other Africans. I might say in South Africa and we have to hold them to count.”

    On compensation, the minister said: “Full compensation has to be paid because as we have discovered from previous experience, a lot of these Nigerians lose their property and it is a long drawn out process and every often are not compensated for it.

    “But, on this occasion, the Nigerian government is going to fight for full compensation and hold the government of South Africa to count. And we are going to consider other options to ensure that the message gets across to the government of South Africa.

    “It is not a question of weakness or anything of the sort but we have to move decisively and that is precisely what the government is going to do.

    He said the President will address the nation, following the return of the special envoy.

    He added: “Hopefully, the envoy will be back by the end of this week. Ideally, Mr. President will decide how he will communicate to the nation whether through live address or a written statement.”

    “But, we feel that it will be better for him to do once he has all the elements. We feel it will be better, let the special envoy come back and then we will have everything that we need then he will address the nation on that.

    “The identity of the special envoy will be revealed in due course. There are certain reasons we don’t want to do so immediately.”

    Onyeama said the Federal Government will not compromise the protection and wellbeing of Nigerians in any part of the globe.

    He added: “Of course, the security agencies are fully aware of the threats that are now existing to various businesses in Nigeria at the moment and they are fully mobilized to address that.”

    The minister, who could not ascertain the bone of contention between South Africans and Nigerians said: “Our basic premise is this, there is no justification whatsoever for individuals or coming as a group to take the laws into their own hands and to target Nigerians.

    He added: “As we act with the South Africans going forward, for us it’s not a balancing art, putting things on the scale. For us, it is simply that the government of South Africa over many years now has allowed hoards of individuals to come together and persistently target Nigerian citizens there, or in some cases, killing them, looting and destroying their properties and this is totally unacceptable.

    “At times it is not only Nigerians but we are responsible for Nigerians.

    It is important to note that there is now an African consensus building around this, it is totally abhorrent and unacceptable that there should be xenophobia against Africans on African soil, not to talk about what a Nigeria has done for South Africa, even everybody knows that during the years of apartheid.

    “But, we understand that the president of Rwanda will not attend the World Economic Forum, the president of Democratic Republic of Congo, the president of Malawi, the Zambian football team that were supposed to play in South Africa also stepped down that match and it is not going ahead with it.

    “And so is the African Union, the President of the African Union has also come out with a statement condemning what is happening in South Africa. The large number of victims are Nigerians and we will not tolerate it.

    The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that Air Peace Airline will begin the evacuation of stranded Nigerians in South Africa as from tomorrow.

    The decision followed the recent attacks on them in the former apartheid enclave.

    According to the ministry’s spokesperson, Ferdinand Nwonye, the airline proprietor, Allen Onyema, had volunteered an aircraft as from tomorrow to evacuate Nigerians who wish to return home free of charge.

     

  • Attacks on Nigerians against ideals Mandela fought for, says Osinbajo

    VICE President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday condemned the attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

    He described the development as a betrayal of the key role Nigeria played to liberate the country from apartheid.

    He spoke in Kano during a visit to inaugurate the Energizing Education Power Project at Bayero University Kano.

    The vice president said: “Let me say first that these recent attacks are condemnable. It is very sad and very unfortunate that the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians living in South Africa are once again being destroyed with such wantonness and with such carelessness and recklessness.

    Read Also: Osinbajo, ministers, others meet over $9.6 billion judgement

    “It is unfortunate because Nigeria and Nigerians invested a great deal in the destruction and the pulling down of apartheid. Besides, these acts of bigotry are entirely contrary to the very ideals that all the great South African leaders including the present President fought for, and for which many gave their lives.

    “Mr. President has already spoken about this and obviously we are very concerned and certainly intend to take this up with the authorities in South Africa in order to ensure that this sort of thing does not repeat itself. This is absolutely unacceptable and unconscionable.”

  • Osinbajo to Muslim, Christian youths: Live up to tenets of your faith

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday has charged Christian and Muslim youths the country to live up to the tenets of their faith and the best values of human kind.

    He gave the advice at the National Muslim and Christian Youth Summit held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    This, he said, was necessary for the youth to effectively perform their roles as present and future leaders in society.

    Prof. Osinbajo said “That leadership role extends to being champions of peace, unity and understanding among different tribes and faiths today, and the future belongs to you.

    “The greatness of that future will depend on the sacrifices you are prepared to make for the unity and peace of our nation,” he added.

    He commended the Community and Youth Development and the Christian Youth for Peace and Development Initiative, who organized the summit, for their efforts towards building peace across religious lines.

    “Your associations have continued to build bridges, to fight discrimination and encourage love and unity, with the full knowledge that the great conflict of our time is not between Islam and Christianity but between extremism and human solidarity, between the forces of hate and intolerance and those of empathy and peace.”

    He noted that Nigerians were at a historic juncture in their existence as a nation with the religious and ethnic tensions across the country.

    “Many are beating the drums of tribal and religious superiority; some even seeking to divide the nation into ethnic zones.

    “Yet our constitution speaks in the clearest and highest terms of our national commitment to equality of all Nigerians regardless of ethnicity, religion or status.

    “It speaks of the imperative of all individuals and governments to respect the rights and dignity of every Nigerian.

    “Every free nation today has these or similar ideals.

    Read Also: Osinbajo decries high port charges

    “But constitutional declarations mean nothing unless there are men and women ready to make the personal sacrifices to bridge the gap between rhetoric and constitutional ideals.

    “Such men and women are not usually very many. They are few, but the profundity of their actions invariably transforms communities and nations as they bend the arc of history in the direction of unity, peace and progress.”

    He recalled the selfless action of an 83-year old Muslim cleric, Imam Abubakar Abdullahi, who saved 262 Christians in his mosque when they were attacked in a village in Plateau State last year.

    He said the Imam, like the story of the Good Samaritan told by Christ in the bible, was motivated by “moral courage rooted in a profound recognition of our common humanity.”

    Two keynote addresses were presented by Christian and Muslim clerics during the summit.

    In his address, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede said Christianity and Islam share many things in common, insisting that what could make adherents of the two religions live in peace is love for one another.

    Oloyede, who is also the Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, said the ethnic tension and religious bigotry are borne out of the fact that many believers do not understand the tenets of Islam and Christianity.

    “If we appreciate Islamic values, including righteousness, generosity, contentment, courage, repentance, etc, we will appreciate the other religions because in them also you have the same characteristics.

    “Biblical virtues are also what you will find in the Quran just as you will find Quranic virtues in the bible.”

    Delivering the second keynote address, Secretary General of the Christian Council of Nigeria, Dr. Ibrahim Wushishi, said people of faith should find it “as one of our obligatory responsibilities to respect our religious differences, while forging peaceful boundaries based on our common humanity.”

    In his address of welcome, the National Coordinator of the Community and Youth Development, Tahir U. Tahir, said Christian and Muslim youths from the 36 states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory were brought together at the summit to seek for ways of making Nigeria remain peaceful.

    He said the organization has been working for over two decades and assured of their commitment in peace building across the country.

    Others who spoke at the summit were former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed and Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen.

     

     

  • Govt to expand TraderMoni loan, says Osinbajo

    VICE-President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said the Federal Government will expand its MarketMoni and TraderMoni interest-free loan scheme to cover more rural dwellers.

    The Vice-President spoke at the Keffi old market in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

    It was during the assessment visit of the loan facility in Keffi, the state capital.

    Osinbajo said President Muhammadu Buhari had given the directive that the MarketMoni/TraderMoni loan programme would be extended to all the states of the federation.

    The Vice-President said the extension of the Federal Government-backed loans scheme is to ensure that it achieves the intended objective.

    He advised the beneficiaries of the loan to pay back to enable other intending beneficiaries to benefit from the programme.

    Read Also: Osinbajo decries high port charges

    “We want to assure you that we are going to do more as President Muhammadu Buhari has directed us to expand the scheme so that those who have not benefited from the TraderMoni and MarketMoni will also benefit.”

    “It is very important to pay back the money so that the scheme will work effectively,” Osinbajo said.

    Governor Abdullahi Sule hailed the Federal Government for taking the loan scheme to the state.

    He said it would contribute to the economic prosperity of the state.

    The Executive Director, Micro Enterprise, at the Bank of Industry (BoI), Toyin Adeniji, said 3,000 beneficiaries enrolled for the scheme in three days.

     

  • Osinbajo chairs economic management team meeting

    Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday presided over the Economic Management Team meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
    The meeting was attended by  heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies dealing with the economy and the finances of government.

    Read Also: Osinbajo condemns high port charges

    Among those at the meeting included the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele; Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris, among others.
    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

  • TraderMoni, MarketMoni beneficiaries, doing well, paying back – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says feedback from the field and testimonies indicate that the TraderMoni and MarketMoni beneficiaries  are doing very well and are paying back their loans.

     Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said the vice president had  an interaction with newsmen after his assessment visit to markets in Keffi and Masaka towns of Nasarawa State where the TraderMoni and MarketMoni schemes are being disbursed to traders.

    The vice president urged beneficiaries of the loan schemes to continue to pay back their loans so they could get more money and become very successful in businessess

      “It is going very well; and I am excited to hear the testimonies of the traders who have done so well after getting their first loan. 

    “It is also exciting to see that they have repaid their loans very quickly, because as you pay back, you are able to get more; when you get N10, 000, and you pay back, you get N15, 000 and it gets to N20, 000, when you repay, all the way to N100, 000, and it is so exciting to see that these traders are doing so well.

     “Everybody is keying in already, what we want to do is to expand it so that more traders can get this facility, so we need to do more because at the moment, we have done close to two million but we need to increase the number”.

    Osinbajo said the target of the Federal Government in the Next Level was to expand the scheme to cover more traders and also increase the amount received to enable beneficiaries expand their businesses.

     According to him, the TraderMoni and MarketMoni schemes will be expanded  to include more people in every state.

    He said more of the traders  would get the TraderMoni and the MarketMoni loans. 

     “So long as you continue to pay back you will continue to get more money.

    “We want to make sure that every petty trader in the market have enough so that they themselves can even employ more people and pay their children’s school fees and also build their own houses. 

    “As I told you, we are going to expand the scheme so that more people can benefit.”

     Earlier at the palace of the Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Shehu Yamusa, Osinbajo said his visit to the State was to assess the disbursement of the TraderMoni and MarketMoni loans to traders in markets across the States.

    He said that TraderMoni was the President Muhammadu Buhari’s  own way of empowering women and men who were traders. 

    He said the inventories of the many of the traders  were very small as they could be people hawking groundnuts, selling bread and other basic things. 

    “Most of them don’t have enough capital to improve their businesses. So, what we do is to empower them through the Bank of Industry.

     “So, we want to ensure that people who are trading have an opportunity and that opportunity is provided when we are able to give them capital as part of this TraderMoni scheme. So, that is why we are here.”

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     On the Emir’s appeal about improving educational standards, the vice president said Buhari was determined to improve both access and quality of education to all Nigerians regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds.

     He said that one of the other things that would the traditional  might be happy to hear was the President’s determination to the question of education.

    “On June 20, while speaking to hovernors when he inaugurated the National Economic Council, he made the point that the Federal Government will enforce, along with the State governments, the law on free and compulsory education of the first nine years of the child’s school life.

     “It is a very important thing because we all know that education is the key to the economic success, the key to self-realisation and the key that enables any person live a dignified life.

    ” So, we are extremely concerned on how to improve education; Technical education in particular, I think that it is very important.

     “As a matter of fact, under our N-Power scheme we already have a number of technical education schemes going on.  We have what we call N-Build which is technical education for persons involved in the building industry (tillers, brick layers etc). We also have training for extension workers, persons who will provide extension service. 

    ” There is the one for persons involved in technical training like carpenter, electricians and many others,” he said. 

    He added that the Federal and state governments were committed to doing more in terms of technical education.

    Osinbajo said there was also collaboration  in supporting the states  especially in making primary education and first three years of secondary education free and compulsory as well as in the education of young women.

    In his remarks, Chindo commended the vice president for his show of concern and interest in the welfare of the people of Nasarawa State and Keffi in particular.

    The traditional ruler appealed to the Federal Government to review the nation’s education curriculum to integrate vocational and technical education to address youth unemployment.

    NAN