ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, YENAGOA
Bayelsa State Government has flayed the ad hoc approach of most Federal Government agencies towards poverty alleviation and entrepreneurial development in the country.
It pointed out that such an approach does not only result in waste of efforts and scarce resources but also fails in creating long-lasting impact on the beneficiaries of the social support programmes.
The state Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made this known when the South-South Coordinator of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agencies of Nigeria (SMEDAN) led a delegation to pay him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, the Deputy Governor urged SMEDAN and other federal agencies to work closely with state governments to ensure the growth and development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at the state and local government levels.
Ewhrudjakpo decried the continued shortchanging of people of the state in Federal Government’s sponsored programmes such as the Survival Fund, You-Win, Sure-P and OLOP schemes in terms of quota and funding.
He said: “Some of these programmes run by the Federal Government are too ad hoc for my liking. They are like ‘hit and run’ relationships that are not long lasting.
“When you say Survival Fund programme and it is lasting for only three months, what will be the impact on the beneficiaries? Three months are over but Covid-19 is still there. Sometimes, they just hurriedly package these programmes and throw them at the states.
“You said 13,000 was allocated to Bayelsa for the Survival Fund, but only about 10,000 was enrolled. So where are the remaining 3,000 and when are they going to be registered? I think we really have to collaborate more closely to get these programmes working.”
He stressed the need for SMEDAN to interface effectively with the state investment team and Ministry of Agriculture to harness the comparative advantage in natural endowments in every local government area of the state.
The Deputy Governor also urged the Agency to scale up its advocacy campaigns in the state to raise the awareness of the people, particularly the youths, on the importance of SMEs and the acquisition of skills to promote self-reliance.
He noted that most of the reputable multi-billion business organizations around the world such as Microsoft, Facebook and Apple, started as SMEs and grew to what they are today.
In her remarks, the South-South Coordinator of SMEDAN, Mrs Anyam Omubo-Pepple, explained that the Agency was established in 2003 to grow small and medium enterprise subsector of the national economy.
According to her, most people from the northern states are benefiting significantly from SMEDAN programmes because of the cooperation and buy-in of their state governments.
Omubo-Pepple, who expressed delight at the interest shown so far by the Governor Douye Diri-led administration, disclosed that six out of the eight local government areas had benefited from the agency’s current programme, known as ‘One Local Government, One Product’.
In a related development, the Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has charged youths to take advantage of the various skill acquisition programmes by the state government and other well-meaning organizations to better their lot.
Ewhrudjakpo made the call when the President of the Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria, Bomadi Diocese, Mr Kinakor ThankGod and its Chaplain, Rev. Father Izibeya Victor, visited him in his office in Government House, Yenagoa.
He said the focus of the prosperity government is not to dole out cash handouts to the people but to encourage them to work with their hands to earn a decent living for themselves and promote the local economy.
In their separate remarks, the President and Chaplain of the Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria, Bomadi Diocese, expressed appreciation to the Deputy Governor for his support to the church and called on government to beef up security at the Tombia-Etegwe Junction area and other parts of the Yenagoa city.