Senator Tokunbo Abiru Continues COVID-19 Financial Support Scheme In 2022 For 2500 Beneficiaries As Impact Of Pandemic Persists

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Industries and the Senator representing the Lagos East Senatorial District, Distinguished Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, FCA has continued his COVID-19 Financial Support Scheme in the year 2022.

The scheme was earlier planned to terminate in December 2021, but the Senator has graciously continued in the new year as the economic headwinds occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to fully abate.

In a press statement released by his special adviser on Media and Publicity, Enitan Olukotun, the Senator said his concern for the plight of the poor during the current fuel scarcity and the record food inflation necessitated the continuation of the financial support to ease the hardship of the vulnerable at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid.

Today, the batch B beneficiaries in the 2500 pool of vulnerable constituents drawn across 98 wards in the 16 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas received direct credits in their bank accounts.

For *fourteen (14)* consecutive months, People with physical disabilities, widows, aged, unemployed youth and women have been receiving support from Senator Abiru on a monthly basis. The scheme has been on since January 2021.

The #DoingGood Senator who has been delivering on his mantra of , ‘ Greater good to the larger number of people’ , has been greatly commended for his novel interventions and programmes.

For the records, the Senator recently established an Innovation Hub in the Lagos East district, known as the Senator Abiru Innovation Lab (SAIL) in partnership with a renowned technology and Social Enterprise company, The Co-creation Hub (Cc-HUB) to train youths in the senatorial district on relevant digital and innovation skills, and build the best entrepreneurs that can compete in the ever-dynamic global economy.

Over *Four Thousand (4,000)* young people across the Lagos East Senatorial District applied for the SAIL programmes. Currently, over *One Hundred Fifty (150)* students are participating in the *Five (5) Pilot Programmes* at the SAIL Centre in Ikorodu while over One Thousand (1000) eligible applicants will be trained online.

These programmes which shall run for between 3 – 6 months are as follows:

1. *Tech Talent Development* – is aimed at identifying young people who are interested in a career in technology. Selected candidates will be taken through a learning plan that will transform them from complete novice to entry level software engineers in 6 months. At the end of the training programme, they will be fully qualified for an entry level job or internship.

2. *Startup Accelerator for Businesses* – is for young people who have business ideas that can be amplified by technology. The aim is to accelerate their growth with hands-on business support. For those who have a prototype, we will help them with product-market fit as well as build their capacity to be able to attract funding and support for their business. For those who don’t yet have a prototype, we will support them to develop their ideas for the testing phase.

3.*Lagos East Teachers’ Fellowship* – a programme aimed at equipping Educators with new skills that would lead to better learning outcomes. It is for Teachers who are interested in inquiry-based learning, and want to use technology in their classrooms to the benefit of their students.

4 *Business 101 for Artisans and Creatives* – this programme is designed for creative startups in the fashion, crafts, or design sector in order to upscale the approach to business in a fast-evolving world. This training will help creatives better understand how to use technology to improve their businesses.

5 *Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education for Senior Secondary School Students* – a programme designed to introduce students between the ages of 13-18 years to the concept of physical computing .

Massive global opportunities and guaranteed job placements await successful participants who deeply applied themselves to the training and acquired the high-demand tech and digital skills.

In April this year, a *N300 Million* Constituency Intervention Revolving Loan at a low concessional interest rate of Six (6) percent per annum will be unveiled for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the district.

“We shall continuously look out and champion policies and legislative agenda that will be of benefit to the greatest number of our people”, the Senator assured.