N-Power farmers urged to embrace FG’s enterprise programme

Mr Afolabi Imoukhuede, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on job creation, has urged volunteer entrepreneurs to utilise the Federal Government’s Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) to boost their investments.
 
President Muhammadu Buhari
He gave the advice recently in Uyo while addressing the seven N-Health volunteers at the Akwa Ibom Veterinary Clinic. Four of the seven volunteers at the clinic said that they invested their stipend on fish farming, dogs and goats rearing as well as poultry farming but were unable to expand their businesses due to the paucity of funds.

Imoukhuede said the Social Investment Programmes (SIPs) of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration were particularly aimed at addressing joblessness and encouraging innovation and enterprise. According to him, the GEEP component of the SIPs offers soft loans to farmers and other business people to boost their enterprises.

“Use GEEP to support your investments,’’ he urged the volunteer entrepreneurs.

He also lauded the decision of Mr Ini Effiong to join the veterinary section of the Ministry of Agriculture to learn how to apply veterinary training to manage his 11-year-old dog farm.

Effiong, a 2012 graduate of Our Savior Polytechnic, Enugu, said he was inspired to join N-Agro scheme because of his farm which had 20 species of security dogs. “I knew that one of the challenges facing Akwa Ibom is insecurity and I chose to rear dogs to assist property owners secure their premises and investments.


“I applied for posting to the Ministry of Agriculture to enable me to acquire requisite skills and experience. The demand for my dogs is high and the prices of the puppies range from N30,000 to N50,000, and even up to N100,000, depending on one’s choice,’’ he added.

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