Tag Archives: Grant

35 entrepreneurs share Japheth Omojuwa’s N2.7 million BSF grant.

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Nigeria’s biggest social media influencer and  entrepreneur, Japheth Omojuwa’s Businesses Support Fund has raised N2.7 million for 35 entrepreneurs in Nigeria and according to beneficiaries; they have started to receive the grants since the weekend.

 

 

According to a spokesperson for the initiative, who spoke with Entrepreneurship+ at the weekend, in what started as a personal gesture by Omojuwa to support 10 small business owners with N500,000, the initiative has been scaled up to N2.7 million, in which more than 70 per cent of the winners were women.

 

 

The 35 winners are small businesses were among thousands which responded to Omojuwa’s call to apply for funding, announced through his personal Twitter account on December 31, 2016.

 

 

Since the call, which stipulated that 10 small business could be helped with N500,000, the initiative, within a week, raised up to N2.7 million, to which 35 small business owners were beneficiaries.

 

According to the spokesperson, access to funding, being one of the major challenges confronting small business owners in Nigeria, prompted Omojuwa to support small businesses.

 

With the second batch of the funding slated to come up in mid-2017, a N5 million target, the spokesperson said Omojuwa is confident that more entrepreneurs in the country would have access to funding as “a lot of people have shown interest in donating to the project and some commitments have been made for the next batch in June/July.

 

“Personally Omojuwa is committed to giving N500,000 every six months to keep the project running. The hope also is that some of the businesses supported now will be able to support others in the nearest future.”

 

Omojuwa, on his own, said he’s hopeful that the initiative would revolutionise credit access for small businesses in Nigeria.

 

“If we have enough businesses thriving, there will be less of these. Also he was impressed by the number of young people using Twitter to promote their businesses instead of waiting for government to give them jobs,” Omojuwa said.

Lawyer Urges Buhari To Grant Amnesty To Boko Haram Members

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A Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to grant amnesty to Boko Haram members in the wake of the defeat being inflicted on the insurgents by the Nigerian military.

In a statement issued Sunday, Mr. Adegboruwa said one year after Mr. Buhari declared war on the group, it had become clear that they may not be totally defeated immediately.

“It would seem, from all indications, that it will require a long drawn out war, for which we trust that our president and the military are well equipped and prepared,” Mr. Adegboruwa said.

“It is in the light of this that I am urging the president to seize the momentum of the victory being recorded against the insurgents, to extend an olive branch, to their accredited and authentic representatives, for some reprieve, by way of amnesty.

“After all, Boko Haram once named the president himself as their chief negotiator, in the last dispensation. So, in the same way that the president is engaging the Niger Delta militants, he should extend same to the insurgents, to achieve sustained peace, which will in turn put an end to the deplorable crises being experienced in the various IDP camps and indeed usher in development in the North East region.”

Mr. Adegboruwa’s suggestion came following a reported ambush by the Boko Haram group of over a dozen officers and soldiers of the Nigerian military, last week.

According to the Nigerian army, 19 personnel comprising 16 soldiers and three officers were declared missing after an ambush on troops at Guro Gongon village in Borno State.

“Our hearts and prayers go to the president, the military and indeed the families of these very gallant soldiers, believing firmly that in due course, they will all be rescued alive, by the power and grace of God,” said Mr. Adegboruwa.

 “I join other Nigerians to commend the president, for the victories so far recorded against the terrorists, even though this would have been better celebrated with the rescue of the Chibok girls.

“This has indeed reinforced the view in many quarters, that the president would have been better placed as a minister of defence, in a true democratic environment.”

Credit: PremiumTimes

Grant Amnesty To Repentant Looters- SAN

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A former Military Administrator of Bauchi and Osun states, Col. Theophilus Bamigboye (retd.); a Senior Advocate  of Nigeria, Mallam Yusuf Ali; and  the Bishop of the Diocese of Kwara, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Dr. Olusegun Adeyemi, on Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the anti-graft agencies to ensure that the anti-corruption war was not selective.

They also advised him not to spare any corrupt person in the country, irrespective of the person’s political affiliation or status.

 Bamigboye and Ali spoke during interviews with journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on the sideline of presidential/award luncheon and fund raising of the Rotary Club of Ilorin GRA.

Adeyemi spoke in an interview with journalists during the diocese’s synod at Eiyenkorin, Ilorin.

Ali, who noted that the anti-corruption campaign was going on well, advised the Federal Government to grant amnesty to corrupt people who were willing to return their loot.

He believed that this would make the recovery of stolen money easier.

Ali said, “I agree that the anti-corruption war must be holistic; holistic to the level that even those who have not been caught are tracked down. There should be amnesty; call people who you have found to have taken our money to return the money. What is important to us is how to get the money. Sending people to jail will not translate to money.

“So if you have taken our N20 and you are ready to give back N19, you can keep the N1 and we take the N19, we are still better off.”

Bamigboye, who is the President, Rotary Club of Ilorin GRA, urged Buhari and the anti-graft agencies to recover all Nigeria’s stolen money.

He said, “Of course, I support the anti-corruption war. It should be holistic. If you are a thief, you are a thief. If you are caught, you return what you have stolen. We should recover all stolen money.”

Credit: Punch

American Clerk Who Denied Gay Couples Marriage Licenses Gets Jail Term

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U.S. District Judge David Bunning is holding Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who said she has God’s authority to deny gay people their constitutional right to get married — in contempt of court. ?She will remain in jail “until she complies or instructs staff to start issuing licenses,” reports WSAZ’s Dan Griffin.

 Three U.S. Marshals? reportedly escorted Davis away Thursday afternoon. USA Today reports that Bunning, who had ordered Davis to process marriage licenses for same-sex couples in a previous hearing, said that a fine wouldn’t be enough to force her to comply with the ruling. Davis, who believes that issuing same-sex couples marriage certificates “conflicts with God’s definition of marriage?” and violates her First Amendment rights, has become a symbol for religious freedom among right-wingers that include GOP presidential candidates Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee. 

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Buhari May Grant Amnesty To Corrupt Officials- Fayemi

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Kayode Fayemi, the ex-Etiki state governor, said that Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect, may grant an amnesty to those corrupt politicians who would return stolen funds.

Fayemi said this during an April 27 interview with the BBC, watched by The Punch’s correspondent. The news may surprise many, as Buhari is famous for his tough attitude towards those involved in embezzlement.

Explaining why the amnesty option might be considered, Fayemi said that it is “a form of incentive” for corrupt officials who voluntarily come out to return their loot. He added, however, that the position of the incoming All Progressives Congress government regarding corruption remains unchanged.

“Corruption is not going to be dealt with by punishment alone. It is also going to be dealt with by incentives to those who are prepared to have a conversion. If you come voluntarily and say, look, I have stolen some money and I am prepared to return the money, Gen. Buhari would not say no to that.” 

Read More: naij