Senator Yayi Concludes ‘Oloja Yayi’ Empowerment In Ogun West, Says Intervention To Save Traders From Loan Sharks
Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan (Yayi) has concluded the fifth edition of his Market Women/Men Support Fund Empowerment Programme with the disbursement of grants to 4,000 market men and women in Ogun West Senatorial District, bringing to a close a statewide economic intervention that benefited thousands of traders and farmers across Ogun State.
Speaking on Friday at the grand finale of the programme held at the Asade Agunloye Pavilion in Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area, Adeola said the initiative, valued at about N1.5 billion, was designed to complement the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu by providing direct financial support to small business owners and farmers struggling with prevailing economic challenges.
The senator, who represents Ogun West Senatorial District and chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations, said the intervention was aimed at cushioning the effects of economic hardship, strengthening micro and small businesses, boosting agricultural productivity and stimulating grassroots economic growth.
He explained that the empowerment programme fulfilled a major campaign promise he made during the 2023 general elections, noting that what began as an intervention for constituents in Ogun West had expanded to cover the entire state following appeals from traders in Ogun Central and Ogun East Senatorial Districts.
Adeola said the fifth edition of the programme was implemented in partnership with the National Productivity Centre as a micro-financing initiative under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. He stressed that unlike conventional intervention schemes, beneficiaries were receiving grants rather than loans, with each of the 4,000 traders in Ogun West receiving N75,000 to support and expand their businesses.
“My vision is to complement the economic reforms of Mr. President, propel our economy on the path of steady and sustainable growth and cushion the effects of the economic downturn on vulnerable persons and businesses. This is not a loan but a grant to bring succour to a critical sector of our people and thereby stimulate economic growth,” he said.
The senator recalled that during the 2023 campaign, many traders complained about inadequate capital and overdependence on government credit schemes such as the Ogun State Government’s “Oko Owo Dapo” initiative and the Federal Government’s TraderMonie programme.
According to him, the Market Women/Men Support Fund was introduced to provide interest-free financial assistance and shield small business owners from exploitative money lenders.
Adeola said his agricultural empowerment initiatives had also provided farmers across Ogun State with tractors, seedlings, fertilizers, farm inputs and startup grants, bringing the cumulative value of interventions for traders and farmers to approximately N1.5 billion.
He added that his empowerment agenda also focused on improving the business environment through infrastructure development, revealing that he had facilitated the construction of 43 modern markets and related projects within the last three and a half years.
Ogun West, he said, benefited from the construction of lock-up shops and open stalls across markets in Ado-Odo/Ota, Ipokia, Yewa North, Yewa South and Imeko-Afon local government areas, alongside 10 solar-powered boreholes and solar-powered street lights in 20 markets.
Adeola maintained that beneficiaries were selected transparently without political affiliation or personal influence, urging recipients to invest the grants in their businesses to improve profitability and create sustainable livelihoods. He assured traders yet to benefit that future editions would accommodate more participants, adding that the programme, popularly known as “Oloja Yayi,” would continue beyond the 2027 governorship election.
THE ENCOUNTER NEWS reports that the week-long empowerment programme commenced with the distribution of agricultural equipment, seedlings and N100,000 startup grants to 2,557 farmers across Ogun State on Tuesday. This was followed by the disbursement of N75,000 grants to 3,000 market men and women in Ogun Central on Wednesday, another 3,000 traders in Ogun East on Thursday, before Friday’s grand finale in Ilaro where 4,000 beneficiaries from Ogun West received the same grant.
In her keynote address, the senator’s wife, Mrs. Temitope Adeola, urged beneficiaries to invest the grants in their businesses, stressing that the initiative was conceived to alleviate hardship and ease access to business capital rather than serve as a political campaign tool.
