The Nigerian government is to commence the disbursement of loans to the beneficiaries of the restructured Enterprise Empowerment Programme Initiative, GEEP, 2.0.
The interest free loan would start after the enumeration of the beneficiaries under the new scheme . Accordingly, repayment of the loan would be tied to efficiency and success of the empowerment programme.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Farouq made this known at the opening of a three-day advance training on Digitization and Registration for Programme Managers & Master Trainers of the Social Investment Programme in Abuja.
Farouq said that; ”the aim of the training programme is to introduce digitization with modern software and working tools to the Programme Managers and Master Trainers.”
She explained that empowerment programme has been restructured for digital compliance to enable trainers to align with the latest trends in modern technology.
According to her, ”the move is to fulfill President Muhammadu Buhari’s desire to lift 100 million persons out of poverty.”
“Poverty is an issue for our country and unfortunately, it is very high. We are on the GEEP level. We have Focal Persons in all the states and the National Orientation Agency also represented here.
“We want to have the first crack at trying to register and document all the beneficiaries in a seamless but transparent process. We must now learn that this pool of poor Nigerians need to be properly identified and documented,” the Minister explained.
The Team Lead for GEEP, Zainab Musawa presented an overview of the Advance Training on Digitization and Registration for Programme Managers and Master Trainers.
Musawa stated that the training would provide a comprehensive framework for the enhancement of the beneficiaries’ registration processes and implementation of digital transformation of the programme delivery throughout the GEEP 2.0 lifespan.
She said; ”while significant progress has been made regarding implementation, the Ministry has been stringent in enhancing a programme design to have a better delivery to the communities in need.
“The Ministry has been cognisant of the importance of digital processes for effective delivery results and as such, is proud to announce the digitization of the GEEP 2.0 processes and enhanced registration policies in efforts towards mandate achievement.”
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Nasir Sani- Gwarzo urged participants to take advantage of the opportunity to improve on their digital skills.
The Director General, National Orientation Agency, Nigeria. Dr. Garba Abari also lauded existing partnership with the Ministry and urged participants to make inputs that would add more value to the programme.
The theme of the three-day training session is “rethinking and redesigning processes in the age of technology for better delivery.”
Edited by Mercy Chukwudiebere and Qàsim Akinretí