Tag: #Asuquo Ekpenyong

In yet another groundbreaking achievement by the Senator representing Cross River South Senatorial district, Sen. Asuquo Ekpenyong, ten young scholars from the state are set to receive $400,000 to pursue different postgraduate degrees in some European and American Universities. The scholarship which is part of the second batch of the NDDC postgraduate scholarship programme will enable each scholar to receive $40,000, equivalent to N64 million, to support their academic endeavours.

Recall that in the first batch, the Senator fondly called ‘SUKI’ facilitated $280,000 for seven young Cross River scholars who are currently pursuing degrees in several foreign universities.

The second batch beneficiaries include Ernest Edim, who will study Msc. Data Science at the University of Salford, UK; Juliet Edem, Msc. Biomedical Science at the University of Salford, UK; Inde Immanuella Sikile, LLM Artificial Intelligence, Digital and Cyberlaw at Edge Hill University, UK; Egwu Sonia, Msc. Project Management at Northampton University, UK; and Umoh Anthony Effiong, Msc. Sustainable Transitions at the University of Aberdeen, UK.

Others are Egwu Florence-Sarah Arong, MSC. Computer Science at Maharashi International University, USA; Eyo Victor Effiom, Msc. Public Health at the University of Wolverhampton, UK; Iyam Solomon, MRes (MPhil) Tropical Health and Infectious Disease Research at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK; Asuquo Utang Edet, LLM International Business and Commercial Law at Anglia Ruskin University, UK; and Edem Umoh Bassey, MSC. Renewable Energy Engineering at Kingston University, London.

As Nelson Mandela aptly stated, “Education is the most powerful tool you can use to change the world”. There’s nothing more valuable than education, and Sen. Ekpenyong is empowering a lot of Cross Riverians with the viable tools to excel in their respective fields. Indeed, he is deliberate about supporting young people to build their capacities in contemporary and future-oriented fields. On graduation, these youths will be empowered to become thought leaders in their respective domains.

I’m particularly impressed with the quality of most of the courses. We don’t have many Cross Riverians who have delved into some of these fields which are some of the the most in-demand fields in the labour market, both locally and internationally today.

In the Journalism profession, most media house owners in Nigeria will tell you that when they offer you appointment letter even without pay, they’re giving you meal ticket. In like manner, I commend the Senator for his vision and commitment in supporting the next generation of leaders in our state with the solid meal tickets.

Congratulations to all the deserving beneficiaries. May God guide and protect them throughout the duration of their programmes.

Inyali Peter, Ph.D.

The Cross River State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong Jr has disclosed to the press that
Cross River State government intends to inject $20.4 million dollars grant from the World Bank’s States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability , SFTAS, programme into implementation of 2021 budget of blush and bliss.

Mr Ekpenyong Jr stated this on Friday in Calabar during a press briefing at the Ministry of Finance Headquarters that the money would be ploughed into the implementation of the state’s 2021 budget which has emphasis on job creation for the youths.

He stated that Cross River state met the eligibility criteria for the 2019 programme and was accordingly pre-qualified for the detailed annual performance assessment of all qualified Nigerian states under the States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme.

The assessment exercise was conducted in September 2020 by the Independent Verification Assessors (IVA) from the office of the Auditor General of the Federation and JFR Consulting, showed that Cross River state achieved 6 Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLRs), out of 9 applicable DLRs for 2019, and 3 DLRs out of 3DLRs, i.e 100% for the 2020 additional financing.

The Commissioner said that the report noted that Cross River state has strengthened its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) collection, implemented biometric verification to reduce Payroll fraud, improved its procurement practices for increased transparency, strengthened its public debt management and fiscal responsibility framework, improved debt sustainability and instituted a more transparent budgeting process over the course of the fiscal year.

The Commissioner used the opportunity to commend the members of the SFTAS state Steering Committee for their untiring efforts in bringing the state machinery up to speed towards achieving resounding success in the programme. The Steering Committee comprises of the Ministry of Finance, Internal Revenue Service, Office of Accountant General, Bureau of Due Process, Debt Management Department, and Auditor General’s Office.

He further stated that, “the independent verification success is a confirmation of the Ayade led administration’s commitment to transparency and fiscal performance”.

The SFTAS programme is a product of mutual agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the World Bank, designed to strengthen the fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability in Nigerian states as a way of improving their revenue base, increasing fiscal efficiency in public expenditure and reducing debt overhang.

It’s a four year programme that runs from 2018 to 2022, with a budget size of $750million.

Cross Riverians seeking capital to fund a business idea and money to expand an existing business now have a golden opportunity through the Asuquo Ekpenyong Foundation (AEF) in collaboration with the NIRSAL Bank’s approved Entrepreneurhip Development Institute, Moure Consult in the Agric Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme, AGSMEIS, established by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as an empowerment programme which also benefits all age categories willing to get into agriculture or any other small and medium scale business.

This was disclosed by the Executive Secretary of the Foundation, Mr Emmanuel.

According to him Cross Riverians can access a soft loan facility to the tune of N10 million. The loan covers all categories of small and medium enterprises, yet the most interesting part is that the recipients have seven years to pay back the loan and at a concessionary five per cent (5%) interest rate. He commended the applicants for their coordination through out the training exercise while urging them to efficiently utilize the cash when it comes in.

The Cross River State Commissioner of Finance, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong Jr the trustee of the foundation who closed the training said 1,000 Cross Riverians will benefit from the first phase of the loan.

He revealed that all that is required is for interested persons to apply and attend the 3 day training for free as the foundation have paid the training fees for all trainees which also covers lunch for the training days, venue and resource persons as well as facilitation fees for application assistance as well as business plan development to facilitate access to the grants.

He said selection process was done by the Consultants who made open the applications to everyone across the 18 LGAs of CRS without interference from any Political class.

Mr Ekpenyong poured encomium on the participants and prospective beneficiaries for taking the training very serious and making Cross River State a shining star among other states.

Asuquo said “give a man a fish and he will feed his family for a day, but teach a man to fish and he will feed his family in perpetuity”

Speaking with newsmen, the Chief Facilitator of the training, Mr Omotayo Omolade said the Entrepreneurship Training programme has been designed to take your business to greater heights, and if you’re a start-up, the information you’ll get will give you a very comfortable footing to start your business. So, you have no reason to miss this great opportunity.”

The Lead Facilitator from Moure Consult, Mr Muhammed Tahir disclosed that many Nigerians are already benefiting from the loan facility while lauding the Cross River participants to have been the most well behaved and well coordinated across the country so far.

Highlight of the event was presentation of Certificates to trainees by the Honorable Commissioner For Finance, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong.