George Odok Jnr: why AYADE should give clearance to Zenith Bank to facilitate release of grants..

Why Gov. Ayade should give clearance to Zenith bank to facilitate release of grants for APPEALS  project

APPEALs Project is a world bank assisted project currently implemented in six states of the federation which include Cross River, Enugu, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos states respectively.

The project is meant to extend grant support to beneficiaries in the state through farmers’ groups, Women and Youth Empowerment Programme in order to alleviate poverty ravaging the states and the country at large.

Sources from other states shows that beneficiaries have fully received their grants to boost their agricultural production through the Federal Government outlined procedures.

The case is different in Cross River State, the beneficiaries of this project are yet to receive their grants months after their training and for those whose farms have been assessed to benefit from the grant.

The Governor should as a matter of urgency  give clearance to Zenith Bank to facilitate release of the grants to the beneficiaries. Some of these people are depending largely on that grant to grow their agricultural businesses.

The funds comes directly from the World Bank, hence it should be channelled appropriately for the purpose it was meant for. Some of the beneficiaries are anxiously waiting for the grants with a view to grow back their business after the worst hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is an intervention that should be running steadily with timely release of funds to promote the agricultural sector in the country.

Most of the beneficiaries are calling on President Buhari, the National Assembly members, The world Bank, Federal Ministry of Agric, EFCC, ICPC and others, to wade into the issue as Cross Riverians were suffering and cannot afford to loose such an intervention.