No fewer than 30 petty traders in Asaba were on Monday empowered by Mr Uche Osadebe, the Chairman of Oshimili South Local Government in Delta.
Osadebe, who spoke in an interview in Asaba, said that he chose to empower the petty traders at the point of their businesses to be sure that the right people received the funds.
According to him, 10 traders each in all the 11 wards in the council area will be empowered.
“Today, we have started the empowerment process in three wards; that is wards 7, 8 and 9 out of the 11 wards and each trader will receive N10, 000 to beef up their businesses.
“We shall continue the empowerment next week in the remaining wards.
“I don’t believe in jamborees and I don’t want the essence to be defeated by making fanfares and gathering people for empowerment as other people do.
“This is why I chose to go down directly to meet the traders at the point of their business to be sure that the right person received the empowerment,” he said.
He said that the traders would be monitored to ensure that they utilised the funds to improve their businesses, adding that if they utilised it well, they would receive more support.
Two of the beneficiaries; Mrs Victoria Ashikordi and Mrs Ifeyinwa Ogbo said that the empowerment was a surprise package, promising that the funds would be judiciously utilised.
“We thank the chairman for the gesture and we are promising to effectively and efficiently utilise the funds to improve our businesses,” Ashikordi said. (NAN)
