Rotary to empower SMEs with N20m loan

Rotary International District 9110 is set to empower 200 indigent people with different vocational skill and free interest loan for micro businesses with N20 million.
   
The District Governor, Rotn. Aderemi Bello, said the district through its mega project tagged; ‘ District Economic Empowerment Programme (DEEP)’, will disburse a N100,000 loan to the beneficiaries of the programme to enable them invest in their businesses.
   
Bello, who spoke at his investiture ceremony, said the project would support micro businesses to alleviate the prevailing economic hardship of the down trodden in the society.
 

He added that the district would also embark on ‘adopting a school’ as a star project to address the infrastructural decay in public schools, especially at the primary level among communities in Lagos and Ogun State.
   
The governor said the 30 schools that would be adopted are dilapidated, leading to poor learning environment, lower standard of education and exposure to health hazard for the children, due to unwholesome water, poor sanitation and hygiene.
   
He said due to the infrastructural decay, open defecation has become a challenge in schools, which affects the girl child.
   
“Education is a powerful agent of change and improves health, livelihoods, contributes to social stability and drives long-term economic growth. It is also essential to the 17 sustainable development goals. 

“The main objective of this mega project tagged ‘Adopt a School’, is to improve the infrastructural condition, learning environment and provide minimum basic hygiene requirements like water, hand sanitizer and good toilets among others in the face of the ravaging COVID-19 across a minimum of 30 adopted primary schools in various zones of the district in Lagos and Ogun state,” he explained.

Commending the projects, the Asiwaju of Remo Kingdom, who is also the Chairman Wires and Cables Limited, Asiwaju Solomon Kayode Onofowokan, said people should emulate good deeds towards humanity as it would help address unemployment, poverty and improve the economy.
 
He said people should invest passionately in the future of the people and children as the economy is facing hard times, adding that with the projects Nigeria would overcome the recession and hardship.
   
In his address, the Chairman of the district governor’s installation planning committee, Rotn. Henry Akinleye, said the club’s opportunities to make meaningful impacts in individual lives are better enhanced through projects that would change lives of the people.
   
He, however, called on Nigerians to support the Rotary’s cause of fighting poverty through the empowerment projects as well as promoting education in Lagos and Ogun State.