By Tunde Johnson, Abuja
etabus side effects A Non-Governmental Group, Global Youth Scheme Acquisition and Poverty Eradication Organization (GYSAPEO) has called on the House of Representatives to focus more on enacting laws that will benefit the masses in the country positively.
Speaking during the launching of zero per cent loan scheme for members of the organisation in Abuja, Emmanuel Ozegbe, Chief Executive Officer, GYSAPEO, urged the lawmakers to enact laws that will impact and improve the lives of the poor and average Nigerian especially in this time of economic downturn.
Ozegbe averred that the essence of the loan was to put smiles on the faces of the downtrodden in the midst of present economic hardship in the country.
‘’There is urgent need to change the mindset of young people, because everyone is looking up to government for jobs, so we want our youths to be problem solvers, we don’t want them to be a burden to the government and their community because a lot of things have been happening, the illegal migration, everybody wants to make money overnight that is not our culture.
“NGOs are building bridges between the government and the people at the grassroots,’’ he said.
He noted that the greatest achievement this year is the empowerment of over 6000 small and micro enterprises.
“We have empowered over 6000 women and youths in various states including Delta, Edo and FCT,” he said.
‘’In our organisation you are permitted to come small you are not permitted to remain the way you are. You grow from one level to another because what we do we train, we empower and mentor our trainees from time to time, that is our job.
Ozegbe disclosed that GYSAPEO trains, mentors, empowers women and youths as well as supports the SMEs with particular emphasis on indigent widows.
He noted that the trainees were provided with food during training as they cannot be trained with empty stomach.
The GYSAPEO CEO said that numerous women and youth have benefitted their loan of N20,000 to N1million through the NGO’s major scheme the “Mr and Mrs Agriculture project”.
He said the scheme had recorded many success stories in spite of the hitches and challenges associated with programmes of this nature.
