By Ado Hassan, Sokoto
No fewer than 2, 070 men and women in Sokoto state have been listed to benefit from the N103,500,000 million earmarked for the state under the Small and Medium Enterprise Development of Agency of Nigeria(SMEDAN) conditional grant schemes, according to Dr. Yakubu Maccido Ahmed , Governing Board member of the agency.
Ahmed who is representing North- West Zone in the agency made the disclosure in a statement in Sokoto, explaining that the beneficiaries were drawn from across the 23LGs.
According to him” each local government has 9 representative beneficiaries each to be supported with N50,000.”
The Board member said already disbursement to beneficiaries was on going through 3 selected banks which include; Fidelity, Guarantee Trust and Polaris banks respectively.
However, Dr Ahmed expressed displeasure over the GTBank’s inability to commence payment noting that the remaining two banks were about completing their part of the disbursement which is being made directly into beneficiaries accounts.
Explaining the modality in the statement, Ahmed said” a business name enterprise will be generated and issued to each beneficiary inorder to expose them to formal business”, while advising them to utilise the grant for the purpose it was meant to serve.
Meanwhile, the SMEDAN governing board member has commended the federal government in appreciation of President Muhammad Buhari’s commitment to developmental schemes tailored at providing gainful employment to Nigerians by expanding the window of business for the economic prosperity of the country.
Accordingly, he acknowledged the resilient and purposeful support and contribution of Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, SMEDAN Governing Board Chair, Chief Femi Pedro and the agency’s DG, Dr. Dikko Umar Raddah for extending their patriotic spirit in supporting President’s drive for a sustainable and prosperous economy.
