15,688 Low-Income Earners Get FG’s ‘GEEP’ Loan Schemes In Borno
By Abdulkareem Haruna
A total of 15,668 adults of the low-income class had on Monday, November 14, received the sum of N50,000 each as interest-free loans to enable them to start up small businesses.
The loan disbursement was a second phase of the Government Enterprises Programme empowerment programme (GEEP 2.0) that is being executed by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
Under GEEP-2.0 is an N70 billion social investment programme aimed at taking 1.4 million people out of poverty across the country.
In Borno state, about 38,297 people from ages 18 to 60 applied to partake in the GEEP-2.0 programme out of which 15,688 were selected as verified beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries who were trained on how to run and manage small-scale enterprises received their soft loans via bank transfer.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and social development, Sadiya Farouq, who was represented by a director at the ministry said in the first phase of the programme “about 1,142,783 potential beneficiaries were registered by the COMO’S across the 774 local government areas in Nigeria out of which 38,379 potential beneficiaries were registered across the 26 local council areas.
“The selected beneficiaries are currently undergoing enumeration and today I have gracefully come to Roll-Out the programme in the “Home of Peace Borno state.
He disclosed that the GEEP beneficiaries would begin to receive credit alerts from the contracted bank.
He said the ministry would “soon commence the second phase of GEEP registration of which an official date will be communicated.”
Hajiya Fati Abba Mani, a representative of the coordinator of GEEP in Borno state said the loan would be serviced with no interest.
“And it meant for the vulnerable and low-income Nigerian widows, youth, the disabled.
The 15,688 beneficiaries were categorised into Trader money, petty traders, Market money for female-headed houses and Farmer money for small-scale farmers.
Officials of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) who were part of the selection and training aspect of the tbs programme called on the beneficiaries to make the best use of the money and pay back the loan so that others too can benefit from the scheme.
Some of the beneficiaries thanked the government for stepping in to alleviate their suffering.
