The Deputy Governor of Edo State Comrade Philip Shaibu has revealed steps that were taken to move the State from a Civil Service State into an economic hub.
Comrade Shaibu who spoke through his Special Assistant on media, Mr. Benjamin Atu, said Governor Godwin Obaseki adopted a hybrid strategy to tackle the hitherto ingrained inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the commerce and industry sector for maximum results.
“The truth is that a lot is happening in Edo State that the World is not aware of. What Governor Godwin Obaseki is doing is mind-blowing”
According to the Deputy Governor, Government in the last three and half years by virtue of dedicated focus came to the realization that commerce and industry offer very important measurement and gauge for assessment of the economic growth, strength, and health of any society.
He maintained that the Government was worried about the crushing poverty in the State and conceived and embarked upon the micro-credit program as part of efforts in bringing the issue of poverty reduction to the forefront of administration.
“The objective of the Obaseki’s government is to achieve the happiness, economic enhancement, and independence of the poorest, the weakest, the most vulnerable and disadvantaged”
Benjamin Atu disclosed that micro-credit can be used to benefit poor entrepreneurs as a major fillip in removing people from the poverty line. This the government has proven by various forms of Microcredit program to bring about their own sustained development.
“We want the poor in our midst to have access to means of production, turn them into entrepreneurs in their own right, employers of labor and masters of their own economic destiny, with the ability to turn the economic fortune of the State around for the better.
He maintained that, Its in furtherance of this goal that the Governor is seeking a second term in office in order to consolidate on his micro-credit effort. The return of Governor Godwin Obaseki will be for the greater good of Edo People.
“Businesses that started as a very small basic micro businesses have started turning into cottage industries and small businesses. Since the Government has this kind of ingenuity and resilience towards ensuring the eradication of poverty why then are we struggling for a change of government” Atu asked?
The Media Aide holds that It’s good ingenuity for the Edo State government. If we can continue with this for the next four years we will promote employment for both the skilled and unskilled and thereby reduce crime in the State and above all the state economy will grow.
Microcredit is grounded in the belief that the poor have skills that remain largely unused or underutilized and that charity is not the answer because it creates dependency and therefore perpetuates the poverty trap.
The Statement further alerted that “Obaseki’s administration has penetrated into the grassroots through meeting financial obligations of businesses. This he has done because regular financial institutions owing to their nature cannot put down funds for low-income businesses.
In the absence of alternative funds for this group of people, the Obaseki government took it as a social responsibility and obligation, to provide them with necessary credit as we cannot continue to neglect them, considering the fact that they are in the Majority.
He emphasized that one of the major achievements of this poverty alleviation program is that it was carefully packaged to meet the desire of the people at the grass-root, people who have never experienced direct benefit from government in any form.
Is it such a passionate Government like this, that we are in a hurry to remove? We may fault the actions of the government for not enriching individual elite who are bent on auctioning the State, but the government has impacted upon the lives of those who needed government the most through policies and programs.
Benjamin Atu
Special Assistant on media to the Deputy Governor of Edo State
senatorbenatu@gmail com
08038847596
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