Sen. John Owan-Enoh, the Minister of State for Industry, has assured the public that the N500 million intervention fund for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will be managed in an apolitical and credible manner.
Speaking to journalists during the unveiling of the initiative on Friday in Calabar, Owan-Enoh said he wants the program to be credible and to reach the real residents in Cross River who need the financing.
The minister said that he has received many messages from people asking to be included in the program, but he has told them to wait for the unveiling and follow the instructions to avoid any political interference.
Speaking further, Owan-Enoh said the program was not for Cross River Indigenes alone but for every resident of the state with a business and in need of a grant to upscale his or her business.
He added that although he was worried about the continuous support of businesses in Nigeria, as people were finding it hard to stand on their own, world over, governments continued to assist people through interventions.
He said that not everyone given N500,000 would turn it around and succeed, and urged the government to assist those who still fall behind from time to time through interventions like this.
Speaking on behalf of the implementation committee, activist and journalist, Agba Jalingo explained that the programme would run in four batches and would have two sectors, formal and informal.
According to Jalingo, 150 beneficiaries from the formal sector would receive a maximum grant of N500,000 in each of the batches while 325 from the informal sector would receive N150,000 each.
“This is not government money, it is a private initiative of the minister and not a dime will be stolen; our duty is to ensure that every kobo goes directly to the people who need it most.
‘’The official website for applications is www.hmindustry.ng, while physical forms will be made available for artisans and small-scale business owners who cannot access the internet,’’ Jalingo said.
