By Francis Sadhere, Warri
Dr Michael Tidi, chairman of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta, on Monday flagged off the Federal Government’s restructured Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), known as GEEP 2.0.
Tidi flagged off the programme at the Council’s secretariat when Mrs Afejuku Jolian Omasan, State Orientation and Mobilization Officer, National Orientation Agency, presented the Warri South LGA GEEP register to him.
Tidi said, though the initiative was a good one and a welcome development, he hoped that this time around, it would get to the people that needed it most.
“We will do the needful and support the Federal government. We have had two of this programme in the past but it did not get to our people. We hope this time around it will get to the grassroot,” Tidi said.
Earlier, Mrs Omasan said they were at the office of the Warri South Council chairman to formally present the GEEP 2.0 register of Warri South LG to the chairman and to intimate him about the programme.
She said the programme will empower youths, women and farmers in the council.
“The GEEP is innovatively targeted and delivered under three unique products – the TraderMoni for marginalised youths, The MarketMoni targets vulnerable women, and the FarmerMoni specifically focuses on rural farmers,” she said,” Mrs Omasan said.
She appealed to the Warri South Council Boss to help the agency reach out to the vulnerable in the council so that they can be registered in the scheme.
It will be recalled that Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, had inaugurated the programme at Abuja on August 23th 2021
Farouq said the programme is one of the components of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) designed to end poverty in many ways.
The minister said the GEEP now targets skilled populations that have always been left out on credit delivery programmes by providing soft and affordable loans to finance their businesses.
The minister said the restructured GEEP include an increase in the loan portfolio of TraderMoni and MarketMoni loans from N10,000 to N50,000, while the FarmerMoni is now N300,000.
