The Ogun State Government has earmarked N1 billion to about 1,500 business owners across the 20 local governments as operational grants for micro and small-scale enterprises in the state.

Speaking in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during the enumeration and vetting exercise for beneficiaries, the Project Manager of Ogun State COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme (OGUN CARES), Mrs. Olusola Arobieke said the purpose of the grant was to cushion the effect of the pandemics on the micro and Small-scale business owners.

Mrs. Arobieke noted that about 16,000 business owners had been nominated to benefit from the grant in all the three Senatorial Districts of the State, revealing that the 1,500 that were captured under the first batch would receive the alert within 24 hours.

She said: “The exercise has been on for some time. The main idea of the N1 billion grant was to serve as relief from COVID-19 pandemics for micro and small enterprises in all three Senatorial Districts of Ogun. The beneficiaries may not necessarily be indigent, but they will benefit as long as they have a business establishment in the state.”

Mr. Israel Ariyo, a boutique owner in Ijebu-Ode Local Government, and Olamide Olatunde, owner of Beauty and Cosmetics Shop in Ado-Odo, Ota Local government, while appreciating the government for the gesture, posited that the grant would help to lessen the burden of obtaining a loan from other sources, adding that it would make their business to move on faster.

Also, a photographer from Abeokuta South Local Government, Olawummi Okunlola, and Hon. Tairat Adebanjo, a trader from Odogbolu Local Government, said the grant would be spent on acquiring new gadgets and expanding their business, appreciating the Prince Dapo Abiodun administration for promoting individual prosperity.