Small-scale enterprises (SMEs), farmers, traders, and entrepreneurs in Akwa Ibom State have been handed a lifeline of over N5.1 billion as grants under the ongoing ARISE empowerment programme of Governor Umo Eno.
Under the scheme, N2 billion is earmarked as a grant to support individuals, corporate, and commercial farmers, another N2 billion for validated traders across the 31 LGAs, and operators of Micro, Small, and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) will receive support in terms of equipment to the tune of N800 million. A special grant of N310 million will be won by two farmers in each of the 31 LGAs.
Speaking on behalf of his boss, the chief press secretary (CPS) to the governor, Mr. Ekerete Udoh, during a press briefing at Government House, Uyo, highlighted the governor’s strides in advancing Akwa Ibom’s economic development and commended journalists in the state for their cooperation and promotion of the ARISE Agenda blueprint of the administration.
He explained that the first 50 beneficiaries of the ARISE Home Garden (AHG) programme “will be awarded N500,000 each in an atmosphere of excitement, conviviality and celebration of the Akwa Ibom spirit of oneness, on February 6, 2025, at the Amphitheatre, Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo.”
Udoh disclosed that “the Town Hall meetings scheduled for the later part of February 2025 will feature four other components of the ARISE empowerment programme- traders, farmers and MSMEs within the respective LGAs.”
In his presentation, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the governor on ICT and subject matter expert on the empowerment programmes’ database management, Dr. Frank Ekpenyong, took Journalists on a tour of the ARISE MSMEs Portal and assured them that “due diligence has been done to check identity conflicts and duplicity, while also ensuring ease of navigation for verifiable entrepreneurs.”
Ekpenyong, therefore, urged Akwa Ibom people to log onto the portal to “take advantage of the governor’s gesture of extending economic empowerment to citizens across various strata and enhancing the state’s economy through investments in agriculture and MSMEs.”
Another subject matter expert, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the governor on Entrepreneurial Development, Mr. Ime Uwah, described the ARISE Entrepreneurial Support Scheme (AESS) as “a deliberate approach by governor Eno, to empower real and verifiable entrepreneurs,” adding that the Ibom Leadership and Entrepreneurial Development Centre ( Ibom LED), “is doing due diligence to interpret the governor’s vision by giving usable guide for budding entrepreneurs, while supporting existing ones to expand.”
Also speaking, the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, Comrade Amos Etuk, noted that “governor Eno’s entrepreneurial development strides are laying the foundation for economic growth and capable of stimulating the economy of the state.”
He, therefore, assured of continuous cooperation of the media in terms of promoting the positive strides of the Governor Umo Eno-led government.