Yenagoa—The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has said 3,000 youths from the Niger Delta, including ex-agitators, will benefit from the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) loans.
The Nation reports that 60 youths are already undergoing training in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State for the first phase.
Colonel Milland Dikio (rtd), Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Program, stated that NIRSAL would select 30 youths for the pilot survey of the loan initiative after the training.
Dikio, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Project, Godwin Ekpo, emphasised that the PAP was only acting as a guide to allow qualified entrepreneurs to access the loans.
He advised the trainees that the loans were not bazaars and should be paid back within the terminal period to enable NIRSAL to extend the gesture to others.
Dikio explained that the loans were free of collateral with low interests but must be secured by guarantors to facilitate repayments.
According to him, the PAP decided to facilitate the loans because such an opportunity was in line with his vision to turn youths, especially the ex-agitators, into entrepreneurs.
“NIRSAL is supporting the SMEs with soft loans to enable them to expand their businesses. As PAP, our vision is to help our delegates become entrepreneurs and/or employable citizens contributing to the economy.
“So, we look out for opportunities where they can access some level of funding to take their businesses to the next level.
“We have other people that will be joining after this; this is just a pilot scheme. The partnership will grow and we have a larger number.
“It must be stated again, that this is not a grant; these are low-interest loans, single-digit with no collateral that will be paid back after a while. The tenure of repayment and other conditions are stated in the papers they will sign.
“We hope that these delegates will become more successful entrepreneurs in the future as a result of this funding. Some of them are into agriculture, small scale businesses and we hope this fund will help them expand.”
Paul Tyokosu, the lead consultant, revealed that the essence of the training was to enable the entrepreneurs to have access to funding and skills to promote their businesses.
Tyokosu urged the trainees to think of farming, agro-businesses and another agricultural value chain to expand their businesses and create more employment opportunities.
Amatari Ogon, one of the trainees who runs a poultry farm, commended Dikio for introducing Niger Delta youths to opportunities.
