Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday visited Karu, Mpape and Kubwa all satellite towns in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in continuation of his community engagement ahead of the presidential election.
At Mpape, Osinbajo told a huge gathering of women, community leaders and youths that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari was for the common people.
He said that it was the love for the common man that informed government’s decision to empower the poor.
“That is why for the very first time in the history of this country, loans are being made available for petty traders and small traders.
“There is MarketMoni; there is TraderMoni; the TraderMoni is for the petty traders, the small traders, selling groundnut and other small businesses; we give them N10,000 when they repay, they get N15,000, N20,000 and on and on like that.
“Because every one of us must start from somewhere; when you start poor, somebody must help you to become rich; if you are a small business woman, somebody will help so that you too will become a big business woman.
“That is why President Muhammadu Buhari started this TraderMoni so that market women can grow their businesses gradually and after a while they too will have enough money to be able to build their own houses and everything they want to do.
” The MarketMoni is for the bigger trader; the artisans and the bigger traders, a N100,000 but you must be part of a cooperative in order to benefit from the MarketMoni.
” So, we as trying very hard, God helping us, if we are voted in, Feb. 16; it is the Next Level; Next Level for TraderMoni, for MarketMoni, for all the programmes that we are doing.”
He said the Buhari administration was setting up a bank called the PeopleMoni Bank with a view to lending money to artisans and traders so that they could also grow.
The vice president warned the people to be wary of the kind of people soliciting for their votes.
According to him, everybody can attest that Buhari is honest, including his enemies.
Osinbajo had earlier visited Karu where he addressed enthusiastic members of Karu-Jikwoyi Women Progressive Movement who trooped out to welcome him.
He told the crowd that the petty traders among them would benefit from the TraderMoni scheme.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Abubakar and the Toyosi Olorundare, an Adviser on SDGs took turns to address the women on how various social intervention programmes of the the Buhari-led administration would impact on their lives.
In kubwa, the vice president visited the families of Mr Yekini Aminu and Mr Sunday Kukwaba after which he addressed an excited and jubilant crowd.
Kubwa youths thronged along, danced and chanted ‘four plus four, four plus four’ as the vice president’s motorcade left the area. (NAN)