The Federal Government will introduce the IYALOJA MONIE Scheme, which aims to empower traders operating small businesses, next month as part of its palliative measures.
According to President Bola Tinubu’s eight-point agenda, which prioritizes ending poverty, he wants to reach at least half of Nigeria’s impoverished and vulnerable citizens within the next year.
The multi-dimensional poverty is to be addressed through different programs targeted at the grassroot. The chief driver of the Poverty Eradication agenda is the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
At the weekend, the Minister visited some rural communities in the FCT to interact with widows, and especially the elderly and vulnerable population.
Residents of Ushafa community in Bwari Area Council hosted Dr Betta Edu as she engaged market women and petty traders ahead of the launch of the IYALOJA MONIE scheme.
The first phase is anticipated to benefit roughly 1.5 million Nigerians.
As the minister made her way through the market, she was greeted with excitement from the locals for leaving the splendor and opulence of Abuja city center to help the underprivileged and vulnerable in Ushafa.
The N50,000 non-interest loan, which has been dubbed “The Iyaloja Market Fund,” will be granted to market traders who have been chosen from 109 markets nationwide. Before the flag is raised the following month, there is a sensitization and enrollment process.
According to Edu, President Tinubu genuinely cares about the nation and has pledged to free Nigerians from multifaceted poverty and humanitarian emergencies.
She also took the opportunity to inform the locals about President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Also, at a community engagement attended by the community’s traditional rulers, youths, women, the aged, petty traders and physically challenged persons, food, and non-food items were distributed to poor and vulnerable households as part of her birthday celebrations.
She explained that the food and non-food items presented to them were in tandem with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Tinubu, which aims to reduce multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria. The Minister also used the medium to monitor the inclusion of old people in the Conditional Cash Transfer register.
Mabel Imeh Odiegwu, a tailor; Hassan Yakubu, a petty trader and Esther Isa, also a trader, all said they were surprised by the presence of Dr Edu, the first time a Minister will visit the community.
They expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for taking interest in the poor and vulnerable in the country, noting that with speed of implementation, a lot would change for the better in Nigeria.
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