Economy
Lagos spends N940m to support businesses affected by Endsars protest

Eyewitness reporter
The Lagos State Government has claimed that it has spent the sum of N939.98million to support about 1,832 businesses that were affected by the Endsars protest
Arobieke said the ministry set up the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Recovery Fund to support businesses in Lagos State, whose properties and assets were vandalised post-EndSARS protest that rocked the nation in October 2020.
She said that with funding from both governments, corporate organisations and private individuals, businesses were supported with grant sums ranging from N50, 000 to N5 million to beneficiaries to rebuild their businesses.
”With a total of 1,835 beneficiaries and N939.98 million disbursed, 10,005 direct jobs and 40,020 indirect jobs were saved.
”The achievements recorded so far by the ministry have been made possible through the unwavering support of the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, in his pursuits to mitigate unemployment in Lagos State,” the commissioner said.
Arobieke said that the governor had approved the creation of a model and robust online marketplace with a lot of features that make it globally competitive.
She said that the informal sector, largely populated by artisans, was faced with challenges in the areas of access to the market, inadequate or lack of finance and access to capacity development.
The Commissioner said that these challenges were being holistically addressed through the development of the online portal, a marketplace for artisans and consumers.
According to her, the aim is to expose the artisans to the global market and scale up their potentials and all government certified artisans are currently being onboarded on the app.
She said that a total of 2,000 artisans selected from registered Trade Associations were re-trained in 2020, while the retraining and equipping of another batch of 2,000 artisans would soon commence.
Arobieke said that the tradesmen were exposed to entrepreneurial training, book-keeping, ICT, Communication, among other training, which is essential in running modern-day businesses.
Economy
Buhari, Jonathan, Obasanjo, Babangida, Abdusalami, Osinbajo, Atiku, others to spend N13.8billon from N27.5 trillion 2024 budget

The Eyewitness Reporter
The Federal government has earmarked the sum of N13.8 billion in the 2024 budget as the cost of upkeep of
former presidents, vice presidents, heads of state, Chiefs of General Staff, retired heads of service, permanent secretaries, and retired heads of government agencies and parastatals.
The beneficiaries include former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, ex-vice-presidents Atiku Abubakar, Namadi Sambo and Prof Yemi Osinbajo.
Also expected to benefit from the windfall are ex-military Heads of State, General Yakubu Gowon and General Abdusalami Abubakar, as well as a former dictator and self-styled military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, and a former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (retd.).
Also, N1tn was provisioned for the public service wage adjustment for government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (including arrears of promotion and salary increases, and payment of severance benefits and minimum wage-related adjustments).
A breakdown shows that the entitlements of former presidents/heads of state and vice presidents/chief of general staff will cost N2.3bn. At the same time, N10.5bn is proposed as benefits for retired heads of service, permanent secretaries and professors.
The payment of severance benefits to retired heads of government agencies and parastatals is proposed to cost N1bn.
Other allocations include N65bn for the Presidential Amnesty Programme for the reintegration of transformed ex-militants; N1bn for the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Energy; and N108bn for unnamed special projects.
The government is also proposing the sum of N40bn to offset electricity debts owed to power distribution companies by all MDAs.
President Bola Tinubu unveiled the N27.5 trillion budget estimates for the 2024 fiscal year.
The budget was presented to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, where it is currently undergoing scrutiny and deliberation for final approval.
In his presentation, he declared, “The 2024 Appropriation has been themed the Budget of Renewed Hope.
The proposed budget seeks to achieve job-rich economic growth, macro-economic stability, a better investment environment, enhanced human capital development, as well as poverty reduction and greater access to social security.
Economy
CBN freezes accounts without BVN, NIN by March 2024

Economy
SON seeks jail term for importers, smugglers of fake , substandard products.

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