Date: 2020-09-15

• Says Kwara sufficiently prepared for World Bank's CARES programme

Federal Government has commended Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq over the state's social investment programme, hailing him for pushing through the safety net with appreciable improvements on the model that was understudied from the presidency.

Uzoma Nwagba, chief operating officer of the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP), said in a commendation letter to the Governor that he was glad that AbdulRazaq followed through on the programme - barely one year after he visited the headquarters of GEEP in Abuja.

GEEP, which comprises MarketMoni, TraderMoni, FarmerMoni, is a component of President Muhammadu Buhari's National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) that seeks to empower small businesses and lift as many people as possible out of poverty line.

Nwagba said Kwara's version of the programme has also turned out to be a huge success with at least 21,623 petty traders getting interest-free loan to upscale their businesses and thousands more to benefit from its Owo Arugbo - a part of the social programme that targets vulnerable, old people.

He specifically commended "the excellent work you are doing with your own programme (Owo Isowo, Owo Arugbo, etc)

"I am really excited to see that you carried on that vision, and it is working in Kwara. You even made improvements (e.g. mandatory BVN, etc) over and above ours.

"The commencement of the programme made me very happy, Your Excellency, especially the replication of the clear process and transparency (of the scheme).

"Because Kwara has built a ready platform and project infrastructure locally, you are ready for the World Bank CARES project."

Rafiu Ajakaye

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor

September 14th, 2020.