Market men and women in Delta State are excited over the N50 million loan doled out to them by the current administration in the state led by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. Fifty Cooperative Societies exist across the 25 local government areas of the state and each is entitled to N1 million for their members to boost their businesses.
The loan disbursement commenced on Thursday, March 1, 2019 at Benezia Hotel, Asaba by the Delta State Small, Micro, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (DEMSMA) even as the leaders and members of the Association of Market Men and Women, Delta State chapter were present in their large numbers, wearing their green and white attire (uniform) to colour the day.
The money given was in fulfillment of the governor’s promise to traders at the inception of his administration, to support traders under the SMART Agenda aimed at prosperity for all Deltans.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the ceremony, the National President of the Association of Market Men and Women, Delta State chapter, Felicia who had encouraged the traders to leverage on their God-given resources and the loans given by the federal government and state government to boost their businesses, warned that they should not see the money as a free gift. “This money is purely for loan for us to do our businesses and not free gift. We are to invest it in our businesses, make profit and pay back to the state government”.
She had recalled that the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari has been empowering traders across the 36 states of the federation through the Bank of Industry and that Delta State is a beneficiary. According to her, Governor Okowa was the first governor to have also come on board by remembering to empower the traders with N50 million from the state’s treasury.
“Everybody (the traders) is happy not. This money is not for dash. It is purely for trade. You use it to trade and re-invest in your businesses. From the profit you made you save and pay back the loan given to you”, she admonished her members.
Sani who promised to monitor the traders to ensure proper utilisation of the money, further warned “The money may be small but you can make it great if you are determined. If you don’t make use of it, it would be taken away from you. I would monitor you.”
She thanked the governor for his gesture and pledged their support to his administration even as she urged other governors to emulate him. To the elites in the society, she advised that they should help to uplift the less privileged so that together the country would be built. ‘We have suffered a lot in this country. Eighty five percent of the populace is poor. The elites should try and lift up the less privileged. The governors should emulate Gov Okowa and help the less privilege in the country,” she appealed.
Also speaking, a board member of the DEMSMA, Ann Orumade, who represented the board chairman, Onisuru, explained that the money was a revolving loan and was expected to be paid back by the traders: “The money that has just been disbursed to the traders today is revolving loan not a grant and the governor has promised to do more. As they are paying back, we are also giving to other people. We have more than 2 million traders and our population is over 4 million people. I bet you, half of the population is into marketing and by the end of this tenure in 2019 we would have been able to reach 1 million people (traders). That is our target,” she said.
She said that the money was for all the markets in the 25 Local Government Areas of the state and that the beneficiaries must be members of cooperative societies.
According to her, each LG got N2 million and there are 50 cooperative societies in the state which have already opened bank accounts for the monies to be credited to them through credit transfers. “Today, what we did was to present few cheques for the purpose of telling the world that we have started disbursements but some of the traders could attest that they have started receiving alerts because what we do is electronic banking.”
On the payback duration of the loan, she explained that the banks would arrange with the traders and space it out for them. It is dependent on what the person is selling and the agreement or the arrangement with the financial participating banks, she said, adding that it has been made in a way that the banks would make it soft for them.
DEMSMA’s Director for Planning, Research and Statistics, Simon Esi who represented the executive secretary of the agency, Shimite Bello prayed that they attain greatness in their businesses as they put their trust in God even as he said the loan was part of the state government’s support to their greatness. He advised them to help one another to greatness by paying back their loans.
Senior Political Adviser to the Governor, Chief Festus Ochonogor, stressed that the money was given in the spirit of SMART Agenda of the state government and urged them to use it judiciously because they were empowered to empower others so as to foster the state’s Job Creation and Wealth Creation Programmes.
Kate Onah, state president of the association, disclosed that her association has set already up a committee to monitor the loan to ensure it gets to the targeted beneficiaries as well as making sure that they pay back as at when due. She said the traders would ensure that the governor would be voted into power again in 2019.
