Afegbua: Edo Sole State Providing N1M, Business Loans to Returnees

Afegbua: Edo Sole State Providing N1M, Business Loans to Returnees

Habiba Sam 

The Edo State Government has become the first and only state in Nigeria to give direct financial and business support to indigenes evacuated from South Africa following xenophobic attacks.

This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim Afegbua, during the Ministry’s monthly press briefing in Benin City on Tuesday.

Afegbua said Governor Monday Okpebholo personally received the returnees at the Festival Hall, Government House, and announced immediate relief for them.

“So far, Edo State is the only state that has received returnees from South Africa with a cash gift of N1 million each and a business proposal to assist them start a new life,” Afegbua stated.

He explained that the N1 million was paid within 24 hours to assist with accommodation, while the government will also provide soft loans to help the returnees start businesses and reintegrate into society.

Afegbua described the intervention as a clear example of a government that “does not talk much but does much.”

He also commended the governor for engaging traditional rulers to tackle insecurity, and praised the Oba of Benin for mobilizing Enigies to take spiritual action against criminality.

On the opposition, Afegbua said: “It is not easy to be in opposition. You must challenge with ideas, not noise. With the kind of development going on in the state, how can the opposition challenge us? A lot of people have joined APC, you can’t blame them.”

Also speaking, Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, Hon. Nosa Adams, announced that the state has paid its counterpart funding to revive the Benin Storm Water Project abandoned by the last administration.

 He said work on the second phase covering Tomline, Siluko and Ekenwan roads will begin in two months.

Afegbua concluded that the Okpebholo administration is focused on practical solutions that touch lives directly.  

“Edo people made the right choice. This is governance with compassion and action,” he said.