Trader Moni Is The Way To Go For Our People – Yemi Osinbajo

Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Friday kicked of the ‘TraderMoni’ scheme in Delta State.

He flagged off the programme when he visited the Olu of Warri Kingdom, HRM Ogiame Ikenwoli at his Aghofen Palace in Warri.

Osinbajo, in a statement, said, “TraderMoni” scheme is one of the schemes that was started by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

While bringing attention to the fact that members of the National Assembly approved the “Trader Moni Scheme”, he was not pleased that some of them no longer support it.

The Vice President also stated that the first phase of the ” Trader Moni Scheme” will be targeting two million traders with the aim of supporting their businesses as well as reducing poverty and empowering them.

“Today, I am here to Flag off what we know as the trader moni scheme. The trader moni scheme is one of those schemes that was initiated by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We’ve looked at the whole commercial landscape of Nigeria. The largest number of people engaged in commerce, are petty traders.

“They are small traders. Table-top trader. Their inventories are usually not more than two thousand naira, three thousand naira, five thousand naira.

“The President then decided following an experience he had with the Katsina foundation which he was chairman of, that it is better to give these petty traders some money as a loan, ten thousand naira, when they pay back the ten thousand, we give them fifteen thousand naira, when they pay back the fifteen thousand naira, we give them twenty thousand naira and we keep increasing all the way up to hundred thousand naira so long as they pay back.

“That is the design of the trader moni because we want to enable those at the lowest rung of the ladder and we strongly believe that is a way to empower them.”

Osinbajo displayed confidence that the “‘Trader moni’ is the way to go for our people. Our people deserve to be helped, they deserve to be supported.”

“We will be at two markets including the Warri market. The Ughelli market, of course, we will be there but that will be in January. We are going to do extensive work.

“The market here in Warri, we are starting today. The enumerators will be here going and coming up until January, until we are satisfy locals who are here because we intend to ensure that as many traders as possible get it.

“We have another programme which we call “Market Moni”. That’s not trader moni. That’s for very senior traders. They’re a but bigger than the petty traders. It will between a hundred thousand to three fifty thousand and even five hundred thousand naira.

“Once we are able to give those who are in that bracket, once they pay back, we open bank account for them.

Through the bank account, they will be able to get insurance, health insurance coverage for themselves so that they too can become proper business people rather than just petty traders and we’ll guide them all the way, step by step in their own objectives as per business people in this country.”