Over 10,00 small businesses affected by last year’s #EndSARS protests have received a total of N939.98 million support from the Lagos State government.
Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Yetunde Arobieke, disclosed this at the ongoing ministerial press briefing to mark the second anniversary of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration.
The MSME Recovery Fund was set up to support businesses in Lagos State whose properties and assets were vandalised during the #EndSARS protest that rocked the nation in October 2020. With funding from both Lagos State government, corporate organisations and private individuals, businesses were supported with grants ranging from N50,000 to N5,000,000 to rebuild their businesses.
“My ministry has been made possible through the unwavering support of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu in his pursuits to mitigate unemployment in Lagos State. I wish to re-affirm that the ministry will continue to strive for the actualisation of its mandate. These efforts through our activities and its resultant achievements have earned us commendations within and even in the Diaspora.
Speaking on the Federal Government’s initiative on Conditional Cash Transfer, the commissioner said, “The state government approved the establishment of the State Cash Transfer (LSCTU) for the implementation of the National Cash Transfer Programme.
She, however, disclosed that Governor Sanwo-Olu will soon launch Lagos initiative to be called ‘Cash Token Policy.’
According to her, “We are starting our own humanitarian programme but it’s not going to be N20,000. We have evaluated what the Federal Government is doing but we believe it is not sustainable.”
Arobieke explained that what she had experienced from the beneficiaries of the N20,000 conditional Cash Transfer showed the level of poverty in the country.
“We are introducing a Cash Token Policy. That is cash on the spot, the moment your cash is on the spot. I don’t want to give details for now,” she said.
