The Federal Government,on Tuesday, October 27, commenced the payment of N30,000 one-time grant to 330,000 artisans across the country under the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).

This was made known by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, in a statement titled “Payment of N30,000 grants to 330,000 artisans under ESP begins.”

Akande said the payments were being made to sets of verified beneficiaries of the Artisan Support Scheme, a track under the MSMEs Survival Fund.

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The statement read, “In the first stream of payments starting today (Tuesday), beneficiaries are being drawn from the FCT, Lagos, Ondo, Kaduna, Borno, Kano, Bauchi, Anambra, Abia, Rivers, Plateau and Delta States.

“They form the first batch of applications for the scheme submitted between October 1 and October 10.

“The MSMEs Survival Fund scheme is a component of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan which was developed by an Economic Sustainability Committee established by President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2020. The President asked his deputy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, to head the committee which produced and is overseeing the implementation of the plan.

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“Under the ESP, the Survival Fund is generally designed to among other things, support vulnerable MSMEs in meeting their different obligations and safeguard jobs in the sector.”

Akande added that enumeration for the second stream of States under the scheme has also begun with enumerators in various states compiling the lists of artisans through their association leaders.

He said all artisans are expected to liaise with their association leaders to document their details.

 “The registration of applicants for Stream 2 began on October 19, 2020. States under Stream 2 are: Edo, Ogun, Ekiti, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Enugu, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Taraba, Bayelsa

“In the same vein, enumeration and verification of the documents of applicants under the Survival Fund Payroll Support scheme is still ongoing. Dates for the commencement of payment would be announced in due course.

“The application process for the payroll support scheme, which began on September 21, had ended on October 15, 2020. Accepted applications are categorised by industry sectors, including Education and Hospitality, among other sectors.

“However, there may be an extension for applications for some states that have not met their quota on beneficiaries. The Artisan Support Scheme is to benefit about 9,000 Nigerians per state and FCT," he added.