The statement purportedly attributed to former president Olusegun Obasanjo
regarding Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, and the Federal Government’s
TraderMoni microcredit scheme if, indeed true and accurate, is most
unfortunate, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Media & Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande.
While responding to media inquiries regarding the former president’s comments
over the weekend, Akande noted that “it is either that the former leader is
ignorant of the true workings of Trader Moni and the role of the Vice President
in its implementation or perhaps he is on a mischievous mission.”
According to Akande, the former President has demonstrated “a surprising but
complete misunderstanding of the workings of TraderMoni, that is if we assume
there is no mischief intended. “
Firstly, the Vice President does not personally distribute money during his
visits to the markets. He goes there to assess the progress of the
implementation and to create awareness for a programme designed to meet the
financing need of 2 million petty traders across the country in the first
instance.
He said “Secondly, while one will not bother to further address the issue of
timing of the implementation since such issues are now known to be political
posturing, it is important to note that TraderMoni is being actively implemented
across all states of the federation and the FCT. It is not only Lagos and Abuja
as was insinuated.
The statement said these petty traders at the bottom of the economic ladder,
with an inventory often less than N5,000, are beneficiaries of the TraderMoni
scheme which provides N10,000 collateral/interest-free loans to them,
empowerment that improves their small businesses, their families, while also
contributing significantly to the economy.
“Thirdly, in what is certainly a curious comment, the former President has also
been quoted as describing the TraderMoni scheme as idiotic. To label such
people-friendly scheme as idiotic is not only an absurdity, it is also an
affront to the sensibilities of these hard working Nigerians, the beneficiaries
of the micro-credit scheme.
“For emphasis, the Bank of Industry implements the Government Enterprise and
Empowerment Programme, GEEP, one part of our Social Investment Programme.
Enumeration Agents have been engaged to visit the markets and other points
where petty traders are found to confirm that they are traders and also take
their biometric information for recording purposes. After the enumeration, the
N10,000 collateral free loans are then disbursed electronically through the
petty traders’ phones. “
The VP’s office said TraderMoni is
designed to meet the needs of the larger population of petty traders at the
bottom of the pyramid who do not meet the more stringent criteria of BVN, bank
accounts, market associations, cooperatives, required for bigger Market Moni
loans.
Under GEEP – which has MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and TraderMoni, at least 1.5
million Nigerians are already beneficiaries of the three-pronged approach of
GEEP, while N-Power has created jobs for 500,000 young Nigerians graduates,
besides non-graduates. Also, almost 300,000 Nigerians have benefitted from the
Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), which is given to the poorest and most
vulnerable among us, and over 9.2 million school pupils are being fed a free
meal daily in 26 states under the Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
It bears repetition, the statement said that higher economic growth potentials are
associated with lower income inequality. This makes a most overwhelming case
for welfare payments like the social investment schemes like the
TraderMoni/MarketMoni schemes. Such a micro-credit scheme provides a higher
rate of inclusion into the financial bracket and is crucial in lifting
hardworking people out of poverty as has been the case in other countries like
India and Brazil.
“Fourthly, the former president also rehashed discredited claims suggesting that
TraderMoni beneficiaries were required to tender their PVCs, and questioned the
timing of the implementation.
“Let me, therefore, state again that beneficiaries of TraderMoni are not
required to show their Personal Voters Cards (PVCs) or any document indicating
their political affiliations to qualify for the loans. This is why the
enumeration is done in the open markets and wherever the traders ply their
trade. This issue has been addressed several times by the Presidency in the
public space. Therefore the former president’s alleged comments smirk of
outright mischief as it regurgitates blatant falsehood.
“Equally, if the former president had conducted a simple act of diligence, he
would have found that the National Assembly had approved this programmes and
budgeted for them duly.
The VP recalled that when President Muhammadu Buhari came into office, one of
the major hinges of this administration was to uplift the common man out of
poverty and ensure the welfare of ordinary Nigerians. TraderMoni is one of such
schemes conceived in 2016 under the Social Investment Programme of this
administration.
Being a former president, Chief Obasanjo ordinarily should appreciate the
impact of such far-reaching social investment schemes, which has provided what
is now the largest social safety net for millions of Nigerians and is
unprecedented in the nation’s history.
Again, the former president’s attack on TraderMoni and the person of the Vice
President, the statement added is an
indicator that he may be wittingly or unwittingly playing to the sinister
script of the opposition party to spread falsehood and attack the social
investment programmes of the Buhari administration, which champions such
impactful schemes, and which is now attracting the praise and commendation of
Nigerians everywhere.
“It is pertinent to state that the false allegations against TraderMoni raised
again by the former president is sadly a rehash of baseless claims previously
made by leading chieftains of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, whose
record of profligacy, corruption and mismanagement clearly show it has no
agenda to uplift the common man or improve the lives of Nigerians.
“Finally, attacks such as this on a scheme that benefits the masses of our
people is a direct attack on the people and this kind of conduct does not
reflect very well on a former president but is only self-denigrating and of no
public value. As is already now obvious, the generality of the Nigerian people
will not only reject that attack but will also condemn its source. We,
therefore, urge the former president to be far more circumspect and more
public-spirited in his utterances going forward.”
