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FG disburses N1.3 Billion to support nano- businesses in Borno

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FG disburses N1.3 Billion to support nano- businesses in Borno

By: Our Reporter

The Federal Government, under the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (PCGS), has disbursed ₦1.322 billion to bolster nano-businesses in Borno State.

NAN report that the initiative was part of interventions following the removal of fuel subsidy, has directly benefitted 26,540 small-scale entrepreneurs across the state’s 27 local government areas.

Borno Governor Babagana Zulum, disclosed this on Friday at Federal Government town hall meeting on loan and grant scheme in Maiduguri on Friday.

Zulum represented by Dr. Abubakar Muhammed, Permanent Secretary Establishment and Service Matters, said that the grants, facilitated by the Bank of Industry in collaboration with the Borno State Government.

He said that the scheme aim to empower traders, artisans, ICT operators, food service providers, and transporters with ₦50,000 each to enhance their operations.

He explained that the disbursement in Borno State represents a critical component of the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting local economies and vulnerable groups.

“With a total of 810,945 beneficiaries nationwide, the program ensures that Borno’s entrepreneurs receive the necessary support to thrive in challenging economic times.

According to him, the PCGS initiative in Borno is expected to boost small businesses, create employment opportunities, and contribute to the overall economic recovery of the state, which continues to rebuild in the aftermath of insurgency and other challenges.

Mr Muktar Musa, State Manager of the Banki of Industry Maiduguri, said that Federal Government has disbursed over ₦40 billion from the approved ₦50 billion to support nano businesses across the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.

Musa said that the scheme, introduced as part of interventions following the removal of fuel subsidy, targets one million beneficiaries.

The PCGS, implemented in collaboration with state governments and facilitated by the Bank of Industry, aims to uplift traders, ICT operators, food service providers, transporters, and artisans with ₦50,000 grants per beneficiary.

While highlighting the progress of the scheme, he noted that North West states received the highest disbursement of ₦10 billion, followed by North Central with ₦6.6 billion, and North East with ₦5.9 billion. South East benefitted from ₦4.8 billion, while other zones are awaiting final reports.

He said that a breakdown of the disbursements reveals that 70% of the beneficiaries are women and youth, with a deliberate focus on empowering these demographics.

“Additionally, 10% of the funds have gone to persons with disabilities, 5% to senior citizens (primarily pensioners), and 15% to other demographic groups, ensuring an inclusive approach.

“As of now, 810,945 beneficiaries have been supported across the country, leaving approximately ₦10 billion to be disbursed.

“This intervention, part of a nationwide initiative to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal, has benefitted 26,540 small-scale entrepreneurs across the state’s 27 local government areas,”he said.

“It also underscores the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting local economies and vulnerable groups in the aftermath of subsidy removal.

“In the South-East region, 96,000 beneficiaries across 95 local governments have received grants, while the South-South recorded over 117,000 beneficiaries in 123 local governments. The South-West saw over 146,000 beneficiaries across 137 local governments.

“In Borno State, the initiative has provided critical support to various sectors, including traders, artisans, ICT operators, food service providers, and transporters.

“Beneficiaries received grants of ₦50,000 each, with the disbursements facilitated by the Bank of Industry in collaboration with state governments,”he said.

He noted that the PCGS was expected to bolster economic activities in targeted sectors, providing a cushion for nano businesses and vulnerable groups in the aftermath of the subsidy removal.

According to him, the beneficiaries were selected based on criteria such as possession of a BVN, NIN, and evidence of business premises.

He praised the seamless execution of the scheme attributed to collaboration with the National Assembly and other critical stakeholders.

FG disburses N1.3 Billion to support nano- businesses in Borno

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Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

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Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), conducted a successful Air Interdiction (AI) mission at a terrorists’ hideout in the Southern Tumbuns general area in the Lake Chad of Borno, killing scores of the terrorists.

Intelligent sources told Zagazola Makama that the precision air strike, which took place at about 2100 hours on 5 May 2025, targeted a major terrorists’ concentration camp located in the Tumbuma Baba axis of Lake Chad.

The sources said that the offensive was in continuation of a decisive Operation KALACHEN WUTA II, aimed at denying terrorists the freedom to execute large-scale attacks during the Eid el-Kabir period.

The sources said that Intelligence and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) reports confirmed that several terrorists were neutralised during the strike, and key logistics under heavy foliage were destroyed.

The sources said that the strikes followed credible intelligence on planned coordinated attacks by the insurgents before, during, and after the Eid festivities. The mission was meticulously planned and executed to forestall such threats and sustain pressure on terrorist elements operating in the Lake Chad fringes.

“We observed significant secondary explosions, indicating the presence of arms and fuel storage. Multiple terrorists were seen fleeing the area, while several others were eliminated during the strike,” the source said.

The sources said efforts are ongoing to gather further feedback, as well as to assess the operational impact of the interdiction.

He added that preliminary signs suggest a high level of disarray and panic within the terrorists’ ranks, with reports of attempted regrouping under surveillance.

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have executed a coordinated strike on a major terrorist enclave located at Maisani in the Timbuktu Triangle general area of Borno State, killing several ISWAP terrorists.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the air interdiction mission conducted on May 4, 2025, at approximately 1800 hours, was informed by credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, targeted terrorists’ structures cleverly concealed and camouflaged under thick shrubs in the area.

The sources said that using advanced platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted a focused Air Interdiction (AI) mission, resulting in the destruction of the identified enemy hideouts and the neutralisation of an unconfirmed number of insurgent fighters.

According to the sources, Post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) obtained from our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms confirmed that the airstrike achieved its intended objectives, dealing a significant blow to terrorists.

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

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Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

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Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

By: Michael Mike

As the world marks the 2025 Environment Day, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has appealed to the World Bank for support on capacity building, data and in addressing the challenges poised by Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in the country.

Head of Department, National Accounts Energy and Environment at the NBS, Dr. Baba Madu made the appeal at the 2025 Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Conference on Thursday in Abuja with support from the World Bank in. collaboration with the NBS and the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Madu while noting that the NCA was a new area Nigeria must exploit to further boost the nation’s economy, said for Nigeria to grow and be at par with other developed nations, there was need to account for her natural resources.

He said: “NCA has been tasked with the crucial role of integrating natural capital into economic measurement. It is impossible to measure the economy accurately without accounting for natural resources. Issues such as environmental degradation, afforestation, desertification, and climate change all directly impact productivity.

“Productivity in turn, influences output—one of the core components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These environmental factors must be reflected across all economic activity sectors to present a more accurate picture of national output.”

While stating that Nigeria currently has data on NCA in Nigeria, the NBS official however raised concerns over the huge data gap from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the environment sector.

He said: “We are not doing badly but we need to improve on what we are doing. In terms of data sources, I can tell you there’s a big gap because these are new areas needed to be exploited.”

Programme Leader on Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Vina Vutukuru, said there was need to jointly
explore the vital role of national accounting in national development plans and to brainstorm on how Nigeria could institutionalize it.

He said: “Establishing the national capital accounting as part of the national account system will allow us to measure the economic value of ecosystem services such as clean air, water and biodiversity which are essential for our well-being and economic prosperity.”

Vutukuru commended Nigeria for having “very bold ambitions” as far as responding to climate change was concerned saying, “That shows the commitment of the policy makers here towards the issue of climate.

“But I think to back up that aspiration and the aggressive goals that Nigeria has set for itself, the foundational thing for those goals to materialize those objectives to come true is a very strong natural account system.”

Head of Media, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), Chioma Azie who represented her Director General, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe at the event, described Nigeria as a very ambitious country, stressing that natural resources was instrumental to achieving all the objective of climate action.

She said: “Technology, policy reforms, behavioral changes has a role to play but natural resources is very key because they’re underpinning the mitigation and adaptation for climate action.

“If you look at Nigeria’s NDC, the NCA is an avenue to provide raw materials that we could use to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.

“If you look at what we have done in terms of this NDC in 2020.which is the second leg of the NDC, we identified a lot of mitigation activities within this mentioned sectors of ours. In agricultural sector we talked about smart agriculture. What is smart agriculture without natural resources?

“We talked about biomass, what is biomass without natural resources? We also spoke about land use changes and that is natural resources, we talk about natural solutions and we talked about also afforestation, reafforestation. Those are mitigation potentials of our NDC. So, we cannot achieve our NDC without SEEA.

“What you cannot be able to account for is recorded as if it is not done so if we know what is existing in terms of the reservoirs we have for natural resources, it can inform the scope of the mitigation activities we’re going to be imputing in the NDC 3.0,” she said.

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

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