President Bola Tinubu has stated that over N570 billion has been released to the 36 states of the federation to expand livelihood support to vulnerable citizens.
The President stated this in a televised national broadcast to Nigerians urging protesters across the country to refrain from further protest as his administration works to alleviate the hardship brought on by his reforms.
President Tinubu explained that the country’s economy has taken a dip over the implementation of short-term solutions to long-term problems and that the removal of fuel subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange market was necessary to set the economy on the path of progress.
According to the President, around 400,000 nano businesses are expected to benefit from the federal government’s nano grant even as 600,000 have already benefitted.
He also mentioned other interventions by his administrations including; N1 million single-digit loans to micro and small businesses, N1 billion single-digit loans to manufacturers to boost manufacturing output and the establishment of 10 MSME hubs which have created 240,000 jobs in the last one year.
He said, “Also, more than N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to their citizens, while 600,000 nano-businesses have benefitted from our nano-grants. An additional 400,000 more nano-businesses are expected to benefit.”
“Furthermore, 75,000 beneficiaries have been processed to receive our N1 million Micro and Small Business single-digit interest loans, starting this month. We have also built 10 MSME hubs within the past year, created 240,000 jobs through them and 5 more hubs are in progress which will be ready by October this year.”
“Payments of N1 billion each are also being made to large manufacturers under our single-digit loans to boost manufacturing output and stimulate growth.”
Other programs of the federal government
Furthermore, he encouraged the youth population to take advantage of the opportunities provided. He mentioned that the administration had established the Consumer Credit Corporation with over N200 billion to help Nigerians acquire essential products without immediate cash payments, aiming to make life easier for millions of households.
He also stated that he had ordered the release of an additional N50 billion Naira each for NELFUND – the student loan and the Credit Corporation from the proceeds of crime recovered by the EFCC.
Furthermore, he reported that the administration had secured $620 million under the Digital and Creative Enterprises (IDiCE) program to empower young people, creating millions of IT and technical jobs to make them globally competitive. He noted that these programs included the 3 Million Technical Talents scheme.
In addition, he mentioned the introduction of the Skill-Up Artisans Programme (SUPA), the Nigerian Youth Academy (NIYA), and the National Youth Talent Export Programme (NATEP).
