The federal government has started its economic empowerment and poverty alleviation programme. President Buhari’s 2017 budget made provisions for empowerment schemes. The government started by disbursing loans to 23,400 beneficiaries in 13 states in the country in an annoucement made on Monday, January 30. According to The Authority, none of the beneficiaries came from any of the five states in the South-east geopolitical zone. According to the report, this is not the first time the region is missing in the development and economic packages unveiled by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
When the government unveiled a $29.96 billion foreign loan for the provision of infrastructure across the country, none of the projects to be executed with the loan was located in the region. Similarly, when the government recently paid N5,000 monthly stipends to some poor Nigerians under its Social Intervention Scheme, all the states in the South-east were excluded. The current loans are being disbursed through the Federal Government’s Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP). The Presidency, which announced this on Monday, listed the benefitting states as Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Lagos, Osun and Ogun. Others are Oyo, Ondo, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). No reason was given for the omission of states in the South-east from the scheme.
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