Nasarawa women benefit from NDE loan scheme

Five hundred women drawn from 13 local government areas of Nasarawa State have benefitted from loans under the Micro Enterprise Enhancement Scheme (MEES) of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).

Flagging off the loan disbursement, the Director General (DG) of NDE, Dr. Nasir Mohammed Ladan Argungu, restated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.

Dr. Argungu added that NDE was mandated to create jobs and provide employment through entrepreneurial skills development towards ensuring that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the president and his promise to uplift 100 million Nigerians from poverty in the next 10 years became a reality.

On his part, the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, said, “The president is so concerned about his constituency. The constituency of Mr. President is not the rich and the powerful elite. The people that you see gathered here today are the true constituency of President Buhari, and that is why he is very concerned about them.”

Responding, the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, noted that although the loan might not mean much to some people, it meant a lot to the majority of the beneficiaries who need it as working capital.

Gov. Sule expressed appreciation to the labour ministry and NDE for putting Nasarawa State into consideration.

He said, “I want to sincerely thank the ministry for looking at all the challenges we have and coming to our aid.”

The governor then called on the beneficiaries of the loan to make judicious use of the money in order to move themselves out of poverty.