Governor Aminu Tambuwal said the Sokoto State Government will provide soft loans worth N250 million to 25,000 women across the state.
Tambuwal spoke in Yabo Local Government Area on Saturday when he presented cheques to 120 women as part of constituency empowerment programme of the Majority Leader of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Bello Yabo.
He said already, a comprehensive list of the beneficiaries, with the mode of business they are engaged in, has been compiled by the Sokoto State Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SOSMDA).
“We intend to reach as many people as possible in all the nooks and crannies of the state. But for a start, we have identified 25,000 women who will get a minimum of N10,000 and the disbursement will commence at the shortest possible time.
“Because it is loan, we will task all you to repay it at a time to be agreed by all parties,” he said.
Tambuwal added that similar gesture will be extended to farmers, youth groups and other members of the public.
“We hope to enhance the capital base of our beneficiaries and for the women, we want them to become more self-reliant, while at the same time providing them with opportunity to contribute their quotas to the economic growth of the state,” he stated.
In an interview with journalists after the event, the governor said he believes creating job opportunities, especially through construction, and injection of more money into the economy remains a sure way out of the current recession in the country.
”Ask any economist about the way out of recession, and I am sure they will inform you that massive construction efforts, backed by release of funds, will create jobs whose multiplier effects will jumpstart the economic barometer,” he added.
