The Federal Government, says it has begun the training of 20 mobilisation officers of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), to fast track implementation of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programmme (GEEP) in Bauchi State.
Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, stated this at inauguration of the training exercise on Saturday in Bauchi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that GEEP is on of the Federal Government initiatives designed to provide financial inclusion and access to micro credit facilities for Nigerians at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
It also aims to enhance access to capital financing to the beneficiaries to grow their business and on-board them into the formal financial system through bank accounts, mobile wallets among others.
Umar-Farouq, represented by Ms Aisha Gidado, an official of the ministry, said the training exercise was designed to expose mobilisation personnel of the Agency to facilitate successful implementation of the programme in the states.
She said the programne targeted under privilleged citizens and the most vulnerable people by giving special consideration to women like widows, divocees, orphans, out-of-school children, farmers and artisans.
She said the ministry has adopted proactive monitoring mechanism to facilitate effective implementation at the grassroots inline with the basic rules guiding the programme.
According to her, the desk officers of the ministry will implement the programme at the federal level while the NOA community and mobilisation officers are to implement it at the grassroots.
In his remarks, Alhaji Nura Kobi, the NOA Director in the state, assured that the Agency would ensure effective implementation of the programme to achieve the desired objectives.
Kobi described the introduction of the GEEP programme as “a welcome development,” saying the initiative would create employment opportunities, promote self-reliance for sustainable social and economic development in the country.
He said the Agency would ensure that the assigned officers discharged their duties with honesty, commitments, sincerity of purpose and fear of God. According to him, the officers will sensitise communities to mobilise participation, register and collate data of deserving beneficiaries as well as provide feed back to the programme coordinators at the state and federal levels.
The Director tasked the participants to pay attention to the training exercise and used what they learnt to enable them to discharge their duties effectively. Also speaking, Mrs Amina Katagum, the Special Adviser to Gov. Bala Mohammed, on Social Investment Programme (N-SIP), commended the gesture.
Katagum reiterated the state government commitment to support the programme, adding that thousands of people in the state hac benefited from various initiatives of the Federal Government such as N-Power, Trader Moni among others. (NAN)
