Mr. Isaac Nkole, the National Chairman, Isun Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Umuahia, which facilitates the disbursement of CBN COVID-19 loan in the South-East and South-South, said at least 2,000 persons have so far benefited from the facility.
Nkole stated this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Tuesday.
He further stated that the facility had provided succour to benefiting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and households in the two zones.
According to him, the loan has helped a number of households and SMEs to remain afloat, in spite of the harsh impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is the first time poor masses in Nigeria are getting interest-free federal loans without stress.
“It is amazing and it has restored the hope of many homes today,” Nkole said,
He said that each beneficiary in the household category got about N500,000 repayable after three years.
He advised the beneficiaries to invest the money wisely, in order to grow their businesses and economy, saying that “this is a loan and not grant”.
Nkole further spoke on the gains of the Federal Government’s N-Power programme in poverty reduction and youth employment vis-a-vis the plan to disengage the beneficiaries.
READ ALSO: Coronavirus: CBN Reduces Interest Rate On OFIs Loans
He said that the initiative had justified its existence and should be strengthened for greater achievements rather than discontinuing with the programme.
He said, “N-Power has made tremendous impact in some key sectors of the economy, like agriculture and education.”
He said that the programme had brought significant improvement in the education sector with the deployment of university graduates to teach in the primary school system.
He said that the development had engendered quality primary education, especially in rural communities.
Nkole said: “The introduction of N-Power stands out as one of the best policies of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari.
“A lot of graduates have been gainfully engaged through the scheme. Some of them are in N-Teach, N-Agro, N-Tax and N-build.
He argued that discontinuing with the programme would be counterproductive, saying, “it will be like killing the bird that lays the golden egg.
The federal government had announced that the process of engaging the batch C of N-Power volunteer would begin on June 26, with the opening of the engagement portal at noon.
It also announced that those in batch A, engaged since 2016 and their counterparts in batch B, engaged in 2018 would exit the scheme on June 30, and July 31, respectively. (NAN)
