The Akwa Ibom State Agency for Community and Social Development has organised training for beneficiaries of the Akwa Ibom State Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (AK-CARES) Programme to equip them on how to effectively utilise grants from the state government.
The one-day training was organised by the agency in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Development at Ibom Hall, IBB Way, Uyo, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
The Acting General Manager of the Agency, Mr. Martins Umoh, said in his welcome address that 1055 economically active youths, including women, will, at the end of the training, go home with the sum of N150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand Naira) each, while cheques will be disbursed to all the benefiting communities to commence the implementation process of projects.
Mr. Umoh said each benefiting community is entitled to the sum of N18 million, which they will use by themselves to implement a minimum of two micro-projects, adding that 12 communities were selected from eleven LGAs spread across the Federal Constituencies of the State.
“After this training, the communities are therefore encouraged to fast-track the execution of their micro-projects to complete and put them to use before the visit of the Independent Verification Agents.
He stated that the training of livelihood support to households (DLI 1.3) and communities and group basic infrastructure services (DLI I.4) was in line with the AK-CARES Operations Manual and that it’s predicated on the Governor’s ongoing socio-economic empowerment and rural development of the state as envisioned under the ARISE Agenda.
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He highlighted the objectives of the training to include optimising their businesses and boosting income, wealth and employment opportunities sustainably.
“Akwa Ibom State Agency for Community and Social Development is an agency created by law to anchor community and social development projects in the state and also one of the delivery platforms that implements disbursement link indicators of 1.3 Livelihood Grant Support and 1.4 Basic Infrastructure Services under the AK-CARES Programme,” he remarked.
Narrating ways of selection, he explained that beneficiaries were picked through mining from the State Social Register (SRR) and were also drawn from the 31 LGAs for the Livelihood Support Grant.
He further explained that the paper will focus on bookkeeping, Accounting and safe custody of funds in soft skills/sole proprietorships, management of micro/sole enterprises for Sustainability and an overview of skills and processes in livelihood grants that support youth and women in economic endeavour.
The Acting General Manager of the Agency thanked the State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, for his support and determination to touch the lives of the poor and vulnerable at the grassroots, as well as the Commissioner for Economic Development and Chairman of, the State CARES Steering Committee, and his team for graciously approving the training to be held.
While expressing the hope that the training will be beneficial to the participants, he enjoined them to listen attentively and actively, interact and brainstorm where necessary.
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Delivering a paper titled “Micro/Sole Enterprises for Sustainability,” the Operations Manager, of Livelihood Grants, Mrs. Iniobong Akpan, said every activity undertaken by humans requires management, adding that management is needed in our families, businesses, and societies, as well as in our social, religious and moral lives.
She further stated that without management, there would be chaos, recklessness, and disorder.
On an emphatic note, the operations manager maintained that if a business must prosper, there is a need to manage it sustainably.
Barr. Iniobong Esang, on her part, presented a paper on the Finance Agreement under AK-CARES and Other Stakeholders: Implementation and Enforcement, informing the beneficiary of the consequences of breaching a contract with the government.
She said when they fail to use the monies given to them by the government to do what was meant for, it will amount to breaching a contract, which will either make the government charge them to a court or use civil action, criminal persecution, blacklisting or even securing an injunction to recover its monies.
She therefore pleaded with them to make judicious use of the funds given to them.
The highlight of the event was the symbolic presentation of an N18 million cheque to each of the 12 communities for the implementation of two micro projects in their localities, as well as N150,000 to each participant to boost individual businesses.
