A Columnist warns against an ongoing bank registration of potential government grant recipients that appears more like a last-minute government scam.
Here is what is looking like a last-minute scam on the Enugu poor, ostensibly from the office of the President. President Muhammadu Buhari may not be directly responsible for the scam I describe here. But it happens to be his programme for which he bears ultimate responsibility. The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development transformed Nigeria’s disasters into a lucrative business. They are smiling to the bank with their collaborators in the bankingn system. If this is real, the officials will cash out even on the last day in office of its Minister.
I confirmed today from my village that, for the second day running, the bank has been holding court. Villagers fall over themselves to create a dedicated account upon deposit N1,000 with Access Bank, Ogui Road in Enugu. The Bank pledges to warehouse N50,000 conditional cash transfers that the departing Buhari Administration wants to disburse to the poor. This initiative is the Government Entrepreneurship Empowerment Programme (GEEP). Bank officials assured my people that they will refund the deposits of those who fail to secure the grant. In other words, the so-called grant will not get to everyone that applies for it.
Imagine if, as expected, over 100 million Nigerians were to register in the programme, each paying N1,000 to the bank. The author of this wicked scheme mops up a cool N100 billion from the poor, while transferring N140 billion. In other words, government is collecting from the poor almost as much as it is giving out.
If this transaction is legit, the problem is the way the collaborators are going about it. Over 98 percent of the poor rushing to open accounts will not see any transfers, legit or not. The mathematics is simple. According to the government Bureau of Statistics, 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty. GEEP targeted about “one million women, 200,000 artisans and MSMEs, 260,000 youth business ventures, and 200,000 farmers and agricultural workers.” Rockefeller Foundation calculates the actual grant recipients since 1986 at 1,899,976 persons. The current effort, legitimate or not, will swindle over N100 billion from the poor people.
There are tell-tale signs that this is most probably a scam. One is the hush-hush manner the bank goes about it. No public announcement of immediate transfers through any of the GEEK vehicles – TaderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni. Another is asking for deposits to get the grants; people stroll into banks, any bank today, to open zero-deposit accounts. The third is that only one bank claims to be the sole disbursement agency for the grant. The N1,000 deposits is therefore either a forced contribution to the purse of public officials or a massive swindle.
The third and by far the biggest issue is the matter of impact for the GEEK programme. The Website pays a glowingly false benefit of the initiative, as follows: “By providing low-cost micro-lending to over a million women, enterprising youths, agricultural workers, and other vulnerable economic producers, the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Program supports the development of otherwise low-productivity sectors of the population, bringing millions of people into the modern economy and lifting communities out of poverty.” A cash transfer of N50,000 will bring “millions of people into the modern economy and (lift) communities out of poverty.” Akuko n’egwu!
Anyway, I have already informed my people that if this is very likely a scam. And that, even if it’s not,, less than 2% of those scrambling for it will get the grants. Many will end up with less than N1,000 if this is not a scam and they are not lucky. All will lose their deposit if it is. Therefore, those that cannot afford to throw away their hard-earned N1,000 should think twice. Before they fall for a last-minute scam from Buhari’s Ministry of Disaster.
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