It is mischievous, but not entirely out of character, for former Governor Ayo Fayose to mindlessly attack TraderMoni, the interest-free N10,000 loans given to petty traders.
For the records, the issue of TraderMoni has been addressed several times in the public space. It is infantile for the PDP and Fayose to keep rehashing outright falsehood. It is clear from their actions that Fayose and his cronies are bereft of workable ideas and do not have any clear-cut agenda for their campaigns, so they have no choice but to resort to regurgitating spurious allegations like this. Their resort to the unending generation of fake news as a campaign strategy is not shocking, coming especially from Fayose, but it is nonetheless pitiful.
But Nigeria can see through the deception. It doesn’t matter how long they keep trying, the truth would stand. The TraderMoni scheme is not just helping the lives and businesses of ordinary Nigerians like petty traders at the bottom of the economic ladder, it is, again, proof that the Buhari administration is irretrievably focused on improving the lives of the common man.
In case Fayose has forgotten, or better still pretends not to remember, under the Buhari administration, N2.7 trillion has been spent in two budget cycles on capital, the highest in the nation’s history. This would not have been possible if not for the prudent management of resources and the absence of grand corruption for which his party PDP is well known. This government has been able to do far more with less resources, than what was obtained under past administrations, where profligacy & gross mismanagement of the country’s resources were rife.
Thus, Fayose’s feeble attempt to lump the Vice President or the Buhari administration into the sordid happenings under the PDP in past administration through spreading falsehood is not only mischievous, but a disrespect to hardworking Nigerians in their millions who are now enjoying the impact of the Social Investment Programmes of this administration.
It must be emphasized that, for the records, the repatriated $322m is now currently being applied to support the Buhari administration’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme under the Social Investment Programmes. Part of the conditions under which the looted funds were restored to Nigeria is that the World Bank would be involved in over-sighting its disbursements, which is what is being done now.
Thus, any claim of re-looting of any kind is totally false and must be ignored by Nigerians. Fayose and his ilk merely cry wolf where none exists; a shameless habit for which he is now well known.
Currently, almost 300,000 Nigerians in 21 states are benefitting from the CCT, where they receive a monthly stipend of N5,000. The beneficiaries are registered in the National Social Register across these states and the process of selecting beneficiaries is transparent; it is based on the World Bank’s Community Based Targeting whereby the different communities themselves identify the beneficiaries in a transparent process that is open to review and public auditing, even by Fayose, if he chosen to be that reasonable.
That the Vice President is championing the scheme across the states is because of the commitment of the administration to the common man and to ensure effective implementation.
It obviously appears that the PDP are riled by the impact of the TraderMoni scheme, where over 1.2 million petty traders are beneficiaries at the last count. The disbursement process of the TraderMoni loans is transparent and direct, while the enumeration is technology-driven, whereby enumerators meet traders at their business locations to get their data, which includes names, phone number and account number. This process is largely tied to a phone number which also doubles as a mobile money wallet. The registered phone numbers are then credited with the loan via a mobile money platform, from which the agents transfer the money to the beneficiary’s bank account or give physical cash of N10,000 in cases where no account exists. The Bank of Industry facilitates the loan disbursements in partnership with third-party agents to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency of the process.
What is reassuring is that Nigerians are aware of the desperation of people like Fayose, who are rehashing old, baseless and worn-out allegations because they really have nothing to offer Nigerians, nor any shard of honour left to their names.
