Nigerian Federal Government has begun payment of N30,000 to over 300,000 Nigerians.
Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this during the week in a statement titled “Payment of N30,000 grants to 330,000 artisans under ESP begins.”
The Presidential spokesman said the payments were being made to sets of verified beneficiaries of the Artisan Support Scheme, a track under the MSMEs Survival Fund.
According to the statement, “In the first stream of payments starting today (Tuesday), beneficiaries are being drawn from the FCT, Lagos, Ondo, Kaduna, Borno, Kano, Bauchi, Anambra, Abia, Rivers, Plateau and Delta States.
“The MSMEs Survival Fund scheme is a component of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan which was developed by an Economic Sustainability Committee established by President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2020. The President asked his deputy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, to head the committee which produced and is overseeing the implementation of the plan.
“Under the ESP, the Survival Fund is generally designed to among other things, support vulnerable MSMEs in meeting their different obligations and safeguard jobs in the sector.”
The Presidential spokesman added that enumeration for the second stream of states under the scheme has also commenced with enumerators in various states compiling the lists of artisans through their association leaders.
Akande said all artisans are expected to liaise with their association leaders to document their details.
The Presidential spokesman added, “The registration of applicants for Stream 2 began on October 19, 2020. States under Stream 2 are: Edo, Ogun, Ekiti, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Enugu, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Taraba, Bayelsa
“In the same vein, enumeration and verification of the documents of applicants under the Survival Fund Payroll Support scheme is still ongoing. Dates for the commencement of payment would be announced in due course.
“The application process for the payroll support scheme, which began on September 21, had ended on October 15, 2020. Accepted applications are categorised by industry sectors, including Education and Hospitality, among other sectors.
