The Speaker Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Aniekan Bassey, through his monthly Youth Entrepreneurship Support Scheme, (RHAB-YESS) has empowered three young entrepreneurs in the state.
The Speaker, who was represented by member Nsit Ubium state constituency Hon. Otobong Bob, urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the money to expand their respective businesses.
He noted that the programme is to complement the effort of Governor Udom Emmanuel in ensuring Small and Medium Scale Businesses stand out in the state.
“We know our Governor cannot do it all but through scheme like this, people are encouraged to standout,” he stated.
Speaking earlier, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor on Marketing and Brand Management, Mr. Ime Uwah, described the empowerment scheme as most credible and transparent.
He urged other capable political office holders to adopt the Speaker’s empowerment model and help small business owners grow.
“We try to develop people from the micro enterprise to small enterprise and for this to be achieved, funding is very important.
“This is really impressive and many people should be able to adopt the model to encourage viable production from small and medium scale businesses.”
Setting the tone of the ceremony, the coordinator of the scheme and Special Assistant to Speaker on Media Mr. Darlington Udobong, said the initiative is to encourage young Akwa Ibom entrepreneurs grow their businesses and also attain financial greatness in line with Governor Emmanuel’s Dakkada Philosophy.
“This is the Speaker’s way of interpreting Governor’s vision of empowering young entrepreneurs in the state to financial greatness,” Mr. Udobong said.
Reacting to the gesture, the 1st prize winner, who went home with N250,000, Ms Esther Okon Eyakndue, thanked the Speaker for the transparent nature of the contest.
She explained that the money will help her expand her business to greater level.
Others who benefitted from this month’s empowerment scheme were David Okon Ekanem who went home with N150,000, while Helen Effiong Essien who emerged third position collected N100,000
