By Bode Olushegun
Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum has shared N150 million to people living in Gwoza, the former headquarters of Boko Haram caliphate.
The N150 million is given out as soft loans and grants to small and medium scale traders.
One Hundred million Naira (N100m) was allocated to small and medium entrepreneurs living within Gwoza town, while the remaining N50m was allocated to those in Fulka, Izge and Limankara towns, all in Gwoza LGA.
A statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Mallam Isa Gusau, on Saturday, said the money was shared based on the sizes of businesses, the jobs creation of the business, and capacity to upset the loan.
He said six traders received N1 million each, 38 traders received N500,000 each, 250 others received N250,000 each, with 404 others receiving N100,000 each and yet another 732 traders getting N30,000 each.
The Governor who left Maiduguri on Friday for Gwoza, explained while sharing the fund on Saturday in the town that the loan/grant with refundable period of four years, was meant to resuscitate businesses and livelihoods destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgents in communities of Gwoza.
The governor promised that any beneficiary that was able to repay 50% of his or her loans within record time, will enjoy waiver of the balance of 50%, while those who deliberately fail to repay within the dateline would be made to repay 100% of what they received as loans and grants.
The governor also took time out to kickstart the distribution of variety of food items to 27,000 vulnerable residents of Gwoza local government area.
The governor who gave out food items to 11,000 male residents on Saturday, will continue the distribution on Sunday to 16,000 female residents .
Before embarking on his trip, Zulum had deployed dozens of trailers loaded with varieties of food items in Gwoza, for which he is directly supervising distribution.
The governor had, in the course of traveling to Gwoza on Friday, stopped in Kawuri town to inaugurate a 50-bed capacity healthcare centre.
The facility is expected to increase access to public healthcare for villagers in Kawuri, one of the communities where internally displaced persons have been resettled in more than 500 newly-built resettlement houses.
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