By Jeremiah Daniel Baba
Empowerment Should Be Measured by Impact, Not Numbers
Sometimes we keep quiet not because we don't know but observe and watch.
The recent Taraba State government empowerment initiative raises an important question: should the success of an empowerment programme be measured by the number of people who receive money, or by the impact those beneficiaries eventually create?
The government announced a ₦500 million allocation for Youth empowerment, and recently, 200 people reportedly received ₦500,000 each, amounting to ₦100 million. The Governor has also announced another ₦1 billion empowerment programme targeted at young people.
These initiatives are commendable if properly implemented. However, the bigger issue is transparency, accountability and sustainability. How will the funds be distributed? Who will qualify? Will beneficiaries be assessed based on genuine business ideas or plans? And, most importantly, will there be monitoring to determine what the money is actually used for?
Empowerment should go beyond simply giving money to a large number of people. If the government is genuinely interested in supporting entrepreneurs and young people, funding should be connected to viable business ideas and scalable opportunities. Beneficiaries should have clear plans for how the money will be invested, how the business will operate and how it can generate profit, employment and further economic value.
There should also be a system for monitoring and evaluating beneficiaries after receiving the funds. The objective should not be for people to collect money and spend it on unrelated personal expenses. Instead, the government should invest in people who can turn financial support into sustainable businesses.
The real measure of empowerment should therefore be what beneficiaries are able to build with the support they receive. How many businesses were established? How many jobs were created? How many businesses survived after one year? How much economic activity was generated?
We should move away from celebrating empowerment programmes simply because hundreds or thousands of people received money. The bigger achievement should be creating entrepreneurs who can build sustainable businesses, employ others and contribute to the economic development of the state.
Government empowerment should not merely provide temporary financial relief. It should provide people with a pathway to economic independence and a stronger future.
A concern Citizen
write from Somewhere in Taraba
#MrJozzy