FCTA, SMEDAN, ACGEL partner to empower ‘poor’ people

By Stanley Onyekwere

The FCT Administration has disclosed strategic collaboration with the African Center for Global Entrepreneurial Leadership (ACGEL) and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to empower millions of Nigerians in the Territory and beyond. 

FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, disclosed this during commissioning of Leadership Entrepreneurial Game Show (LEGS) on Tuesday at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture, Area 10, Garki, Abuja. 

Aliyu noted that the collaboration was aimed at lifting millions of Nigerians, especially the youth, out poverty in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to empower 100 million Nigerians before year 2030.

She said the FCT Administration, in February this year, received over one hundred thousand applications for registration through its Call Center within three months of announcement for registration. 

She further explained that, within the same period, “about 12 contestants garnered the required 6,000 votes benchmark to get into the Job Creation Studio and qualify for the grand prize of Five Million Naira (N5,000,000.00) worth of Business tools and Working Capital after answering about 12 incremental questions bothering on their field of entrepreneurial choice.”

Aliyu restated FCT Administration commitment to partnering any organization desirous of banishing hunger, arresting idleness and poverty, as well as generating employment and engendering self-sufficiency among the youths and residents of the FCT through entrepreneurship.

She therefore called on corporate entities, non-governmental organizations, stakeholders and other critical partners operating and doing businesses with the FCT Administration, and indeed all men of goodwill, to key into this initiative, and sponsor some sizeable number of youths across the six Area Councils, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR). 

She equally  urged the Chairmen of the six Area Councils of the FCT to identify youths in their respective Council and sponsor them to participate in this scheme. 

“By so doing, we have begun in earnest the journey to reduce drastically the rate of poverty, joblessness, restiveness among our youths and create employment in the FCT”, she stressed.