Oyo traders to get N300m interest-free loan

By The Citizen

With effect from January 2014, traders in all the 33 local government areas of Oyo State will have access to N300 million interest-free loan.


Governor Abiola Ajimobi disclosed this in Ibadan at the week-end at an interactive session he held with market men and women at the House of Chiefs, Parliament Building, Secretariat, Ibadan.


To ensure effectiveness, the governor said that the loan would be coordinated by members of the executives of the six umbrella bodies of the market associations in the state.


Each of the bodies, according to the governor, will receive N50 million, even as he urged the associations to ensure that the loan revolved among the members.


He also disclosed that no fewer than 20 neighbourhood markets would be completed in 2014 to   cater for traders who were banned from selling their wares along the road.


The President, Oyo State Markets Association, Alhaji Dauda Oladapo expressed the appreciation of the traders to Governor Ajimobi for the loan arrangement, assuring that the marketers would ensure prompt refund of the loan.


“You are a different governor. We have never had it so good. Your tenure has witnessed a lot of good things for the people of the state. Once you make promises to the people, you ensure you fulfill them,'' Oladapo said.


The traders also pledged their support for the second term ambition of Governor Ajimobi, pledging that everything would be done to ensure his re-election for the continuity of good governance in the state.


The interactive session between the governor and traders was aimed at strengthening the relationship between government and the traders in the state.