By Bassey Nkponam
ABAK
In its avowed commitment to enhancing Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the State, the Akwa Ibom government has disbursed N5.1billion as ARISE Grants to 833 Akwa Ibom citizens from Abak-Etim Ekpo-Ika Federal Constituency.
The ARISE Grant is a government empowerment programme earmarked for farmers, traders, craftsmen equipment support and MSME support schemes.
A breakdown of the disbursed funds showed that N111 million was for 178 crop, fish and livestock farmers; N176 million for 442 traders of various categories; N30 million for six operators of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises; hundreds of millions as equipment support to 198 craftsmen, as well as six beneficiaries of mini buses and three car beneficiaries.
Disbursing the grant at the first town hall meeting and empowerment ceremony, which took place at the Abak Township Stadium on Saturday, the Akwa Ibom governor, Pastor Umoh Eno, said the decision to empower MSMEs in the State was to support them to scale up, as they are the engine that powers sustainable economic growth.
Eno restated his administration’s resolve to reach out to them both in the city and at remote locations across the rural communities, to empower them and enhance their growth.
He also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to rural development, saying he would be satisfied to take governance to rural communities and leave enduring legacies in the lives of the dwellers and environments.
According to him, this resolve led to his embarking on painstaking profiling of potential beneficiaries to avoid urban-based enlistment of portfolio traders and farmers, which is a testament of the utmost transparency and due diligence of the selection process.
Eno, who said that the beneficiaries were real and verifiable, urged them to make good use of the grant with the consciousness that it is a one-off opportunity.
“These small businesses are the engine of the economy. These are the small traders, farmers, those people that have their handwork. Those are the people that help the economy, they employ two or three people and they provide food for their homes. We must support them. I know what you are doing and we will keep supporting you.
“No more will we sit in Uyo and write names of people we do not know. We have profiled all these people. If you check the brochure or go to Akwa Ibom State Government website, you’ll see all their names, their phone numbers and their addresses so you can go and verify whether they got the monies or not.
“We have visited their businesses; we have visited their farms and they are not portfolio business people, so we have decided to come to their Federal Constituency to disburse the money and we will do same to others. But one thing is, once we support you, your name is captured on the portal so you cannot get it again. It will be some other people’s turn. So use your own well”.
Eno said he desires to be remembered as the governor who brought governance to the rural areas, and who interacted with the rural communities so that they too can smell the fragrance of government by having good schools, good roads, good hospitals, water, and other basic necessities of life.
“I want to be remembered as the governor who brought governance to the rural areas. I want to be remembered as the governor who interacted with the rural communities so they too can smell the fragrance of government. They can have good schools, good roads, good hospitals. They can have water, they can have basic necessities of life”.
He applauded the cooperation of the leadership of Abak Federal Constituency, particularly for working collaboratively to produce a unified needs document, which he acknowledged, carried the essence of the town hall meeting.
The speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Elder Udeme Otong, who led stakeholders of Abak, Etim Ekpo and Ika Local Government Areas to present their charter of needs, called for a motion which was moved by Mr Mfon Idung, and seconded by the commissioner for Information, Mr Aniekan Umanah, that Abak Federal Constituency will unanimously support Governor Umo Eno to continue in office beyond 2027 in appreciation of his magnanimity to the people of the area.
In their separate goodwill messages at the event, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and provost of the Federal College of Health Sciences, Jos, Professor Nkereuwem Etukudo, former legal adviser of the PDP, Mr Emmanuel Enoidem, SAN, and former Attorney General and commissioner for Justice in the State, Mr Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN, lauded Eno’s integrity in keeping to his promise to the electorates and assured him of the continued support of the people of Abak, Etim Ekpo and Ika Local Government Areas.
Some beneficiaries of the grant, Inemesit Abraham and Semfon Dickson, who spoke with Government House correspondents, said they were appreciative of the gesture, noting that the selection was not politically based, but a well-targetted empowerment programme.
According to them, God is currently governing the State and using Governor Umo Eno as a human vessel.
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