Onitsha set for economic empowerment programme ‘to cushion COVID-19 effect’

Onitsha, a town in Anambra state, is set to launch economic empowerment programme to cushion coronavirus effect on households.

According to a statement, the programme implementation is under the auspices of the Onitsha Advancement Foundation (OnAF), an incorporated entity, promoted by the Onitsha traditional council.

The statement said OnAF has been restructured with an expanded board of directors made up of Onitsha indigenes; an advisory board comprising members of the Onitsha Traditional Council and constituent groups; and Work groups of Onitsha professionals.

Nnaemeka Achebe, Obi of Onitsha, had earlier announced that the programme is part of the strategy for sustainable economic interventions in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The monarch said the initiative seeks to address economic and social consequences of COVID-19 on the community.

“This exercise has called for substantial hard work as we progressed from the Onitsha Community Covid Response Programme (OCCRT), which focused on education and enlightenment, as well as the distribution of palliatives, face masks and sanitizers, to the Economic Empowerment Study Panel (EESP), which addressed the medium to long term economic and social consequences of Covid-19 on the community, and now the Onitsha Advancement Foundation (OnAF) interventions, which we are embarking upon to implement the outcomes of the EESP,” he said.

“There is more hard work ahead, and I plead that we do not relent since we can now clearly see the great possibilities that lie ahead as we work towards lifting the poor in Onitsha out of poverty.”

According to the organisers, the economic empowerment programme is focused on business learning, technological skills acquisition, and financial intermediation.

“The three areas will be handled by the Onitsha Leadership and Entrepreneurship Centre (OLEC), Ado Business Incubation Centre (ABIC), and a microfinance bank respectively,” the statement read.

“The programme will include a values orientation campaign to be led by Nn’emeka Maduegbuna, a communications consultant.

“The campaign will also prepare a significant number of persons from the community with vital foundational principles to key into and avail themselves of other elements of the economic empowerment programme.”