Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, has appealed to the beneficiaries of the revolving loans scheme given by the state to some business owners to urgently repay them.
The governor, who also said that his administration remained committed to the deliberate pursuit of policies that would guarantee an enabling environment for business to thrive across the state, said the loan defaulters should pay up to enable other entrepreneurs in the state to avail themselves of the same opportunity.
Refund the loans now to enable others benefit from government
Al-Makura stated this during the Nasarawa State Entrepreneurs’ Summit held at the Ta’al Conference Hotel in Lafia on Friday.
The governor, who was represented on the occasion by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Mr. Stephen Dogo Erejang, urged the beneficiaries of the revolving scheme from the Nasarawa State Government to strive to refund the loans they took to enable other entrepreneurs benefit from the laudable programme of the government.
According to him, “I plead with the beneficiaries of the revolving loan scheme, which was disbursed to assist entrepreneurs, to make refunds of such loans to enable others benefit from the laudable programme of the government.”
He noted that all the residents of the state should be aware that his administration had put in place, among others, a revolving loan scheme with a view to assisting entrepreneurs in the state.
The governor disclosed that the loans had been given to the members of the Nasarawa State chapter of the Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industrialist, women co-operative groups and market women associations, among others.
Al-Makura further expressed delight that Nasarawa State, being the hub warehousing more than half of Nigeria’s solid minerals, agricultural resources and tourism potentials complemented by a favourable investment climate for willing investors, the ease of doing business in the state had been assured.
He, however, pointed out that the value chain of the solid minerals sector, involving minerals, steel and non-ferrous metals, if collectively understood, worked, harnessed and applied, would remain the most veritable platform to check the perennial problem of youth unemployment, rural-urban migration and internal security challenges bedeviling the country.
Regarding the agricultural and tourism sectors, Al-Makura called on all and sundry to give the sectors the desired interest to ensure food sufficiency and the generation of foreign exchange.
Thee convener of the summit, Madam Stella James of SKDC, who is also a consultant in entrepreneurship, explained the rationale behind the summit, saying that it was to pave way for self-reliance among the teeming
populace.
“As I speak to you now, our graduates who relied on white colour jobs, are the ones paying the price for being jobless,” she said.
James further advised the youths to embrace entrepreneurship as a means of earning a living by focusing less on securing white collar
jobs.