Director-General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Dr Dikko Umaru Radda has been presented with Leadership Award in “recognition of his achievements in the agency.”
He was honoured for the implementation of the Conditional Grant Scheme for micro entrepreneurs in Nigeria – a programme in which over 20,000 entrepreneurs have received N50,000 each – and the implementation of the One Local Government One Product initiative, where over 25,000 entrepreneurs under various cooperatives have benefitted, as well as his effort in improving the welfare of staff of the agency.
The award was presented at the SMEDAN Union Week Award ceremony held in Abuja recently, where Dr Radda was also named Grand Patron of the Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU), SMEDAN unit, by the vice chairman, Comrade Isa Usman.
Speaking to journalists after the ceremony, Radda said he used the forum to sensitise all members of staff to sit-up and achieve the mandate of the agency.
“We desire more productivity from members of staff and the need for implementation of our capital and intervention projects as we have been mandated to do as an agency,” he said.
He said the focus of the present administration is to create the enabling environment for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) hence it has increased the agency’s budget to capture more of its programme.
“We thank the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Otumba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo for increasing the budget of SMEDAN so that it can provide for all the programmes as outlined in the budget for 2020. So, we are giving the MSMES hope. They will see more through SMEDAN programmes for the upliftment of the sector,” Radda said.
