Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has taken his on-the spot assessment of TraderMoni to Warri, capital of Delta state.
Prof Osinbajo was accompanied by deputy governor of Delta state, Barrister Kingsley Burutu Otuaro; Special Adviser on Social Investment, Maryam Uwais and Min. of State Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu.
The Vice President was greeted by hundreds of petty traders and residents as he went from stall to stall to assess the implementation of the Social Investment Programme scheme.
Osinbajo who visited the palace of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli, before the event, explained that the scheme was targeted at the petty traders who required little, to run their businesses.
According to him, the beneficiaries will be given N10,000 each as loan to be refunded.
“We looked at the whole commercial scale of Nigeria and observed that the largest number of people engaged in commerce, are the petty traders that required little start-up capital between N2,000 and N5,000.
“We then felt it will be better to give these traders N10,000 each as loans to be paid back.
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“Once that is done and refunded, we increase the loan to N15,000 each and keep increasing it, so long as they pay back.
“The scheme is designed to elevate those people at the lower ladder. I strongly believe that this is the right thing for our people, a way of empowering them.
“The enumerators will be here till January 2019 to ensure that the petty traders are captured,” he said.
Osinbajo said that the Federal Government also had the “MarketMoni Scheme” for the senior traders.
He said the traders in this category would be given between N100,000 and N350,000, adding that the beneficiaries would be guided to ensure they achieved their objectives.
