Abbas Empowers 1,000 Constituents with Start-up Kits, Capital

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has empowered 1,000 of his constituents with business start-up kits and capital, noting that the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu has trickled down to them.

Abbas stated this Saturday while addressing constituents at the distribution of household and micro-enterprise support equipment with seed capital to 1,000 beneficiaries in his Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State.

The Speaker in a statement issued yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Krishi said leadership is not measured by noise, but by the lives it lifts. 

At the event, the beneficiaries were given Point-of-Sale (POS) machines, tables, chairs, and umbrellas, as well a seed capital of N100,000.

He noted: “Today, 1,000 families will go home with tools, with capital, and with dignity. That is the politics I believe in. That is the covenant between Zaria and her representatives. By the grace of God, we shall keep renewing it. Project after project. Year after year.”

“Some may ask: why POS machines? Why tables, chairs, and umbrellas? The answer is simple. Small businesses are the engine of Nigeria’s economy. They produce almost half of our national wealth. They provide most of our jobs. 

“Think of the POS agent under her umbrella at the Kwarbai market. She serves people the big banks have forgotten. She feeds her family with honest work. So what we give today is not charity. It is capital. It is a stake in the economy we are building together.

“To the 1,000 beneficiaries, I have a charge for you. The N100,000 in your hands is seed money, not spending money. Plant it. A seed eaten today is a harvest lost tomorrow. But a seed planted in Zaria soil always grows. So, guard your equipment. Keep honest records. Let your small table grow into a shop. Let your shop grow into a business. Let your business employ others. That is how one thousand beneficiaries become ten thousand livelihoods. We shall return next year. Let us find your businesses standing.

 “And remember this. Today does not stand alone. It is one chapter in a long book that we are writing together. Before today, 2,400 of our people received direct financial support to trade and to grow. Our farmers and youth received tractors, fertilizers, tricycles, and motorcycles. We have renovated more than 110 primary schools and 40 secondary schools.”

Abbas added that every year, he pays WAEC, NECO and JAMB fees for thousands of children, adding that his N5 billion scholarship scheme has reached about 30,000 students. 

According to him, “We attracted an Education City of N80 billion, bringing four new tertiary institutions to this ancient seat of learning. We built a 100-bed specialist hospital and new primary health centres.

“Only last November, we broke ground on six new projects at once, including a Women’s Development Centre and a new College of Agriculture. My people, none of this fell from the sky. It came through your mandate. Today’s one thousand beneficiaries now join that story.”

While Abbas commended Tinubu for rebuilding the economy with courage, adding that “history will thank him for it, he also appreciated the Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, saying, “Kaduna is fortunate to have him. And Zaria knows it.”

Abbas noted: “This work in Zaria mirrors what is happening across Nigeria. President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is reaching ordinary homes. Student loans are keeping the children of the poor in school. 

“A new credit scheme is opening loans to ordinary workers. There is a new minimum wage. The new tax laws protect small businesses like the ones born here today. In the People’s House, we passed these laws. And we watch over them. Because a law that does not reach Gyellesu or Kufena is not yet finished work.”