Akwa Ibom Govt Offers N158,250,000 Grant To1,055 Youths

Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has approved the release of N150,000 each to 1,055 beneficiaries under the state AK-CARES intervention scheme.

This was disclosed by the acting General Manager of Akwa Ibom State Agency for Community and Social Development, Mr Martins Umoh who stated that the approval was to mark the second phase of the programme.

Umoh, while addressing newsmen in Uyo, stated that the gesture represented a massive leap from the first phase that had 353 beneficiaries receiving N100,000 each.

He explained that his agency collaborated with the state Social Agency Safety Net to get interested persons between the ages of 18 and 40 to register for the selection process.

Umo further revealed that the beneficiaries were trained to ensure that after the program, the funds given to them will be optimized.

He also assured that the scheme would implement the gender percentage of 60 per cent for women and 40 per cent for men who must be industrious.

He said, “What the agency is required to do is just to request for the names of people it is to work with through the office in charge of the state Social Safety Net Register.

“We tell them the number of people needed and when they have the list of these names spread across the state between the ages of 18 and 40, women 60 per cent and men 40 per cent, they forward to us.

“After receiving it, we go out to verify, contacting them to really see whether they are eligible because the scheme is strictly for people that are already engaged in one trade or the other.

“We do not only end at verification, we train them, to ensure that at the end of it, when they are given the funds, they will optimize it.

“When we train them, we enroll them and then hand them over to the payment service provider – that is the bank.”