Haven completed the three months BOI YES Programme online training course and received the mails congratulating us for scaling through, we looked forward to the in-class training session. There was no indication of any scam, everything looked straightforward and we hailed BOI and the government, believing they had gotten something right.

We arrived the venue with high hopes and expectations and went through the one week in-class training until the final day of the training when the bomb was released. We were told other terms of the BOI YES-P loan that wasn’t initially made clear to us. And it doesn't stop there; when you get to their office you are furnished with all manner of confusing information and unreasonable conditions. This attitude of BOI calls for serious questioning.

Firstly, how can you be serious with helping fresh entrepreneurs start their businesses and still be asking them to get two guarantors to sign and declare their net worth? If I have someone who is worth 5 million and can sign as a guarantor why then would I need BOI loan? Won’t I just convince the person to buy a stake in my business? And for God sakes how many of the participants know people who have such high net worth (5 million naira)? Secondly, in this era how many Nigerians would be willing to declare their net worth?

The truth is some of us started thinking beyond YES-P the moment we heard about those conditions. Someone asked me a question after collecting my YES-P certificate; she said hope when the time comes for the money to be released there won’t be stories as usual with governments. The present happenings is proving the person right.

Since the completion of the training nobody has received a kobo from BOI. Their attitude makes it look like they are doing everything possible to make sure you don’t succeed. Why would you start a scheme and after five months there is no news about what’s happening and none of the winners has collected money for their businesses? Why do you even have to hide the whole terms of the scheme until the last day?

We were all witnesses to the success of YouWin. Unfortunately some of us didn’t take YouWin serious because we thought it would be one of those government stuff that just end halfway. But we were proven wrong. YouWin became a huge success. Like I tell people, it was when I applied for YouWin that Good luck Jonathan refused to win his reelection. The success of YouWin made us to believe in the BOI YES-P even though they are different. While YouWin was a grant, YES-P is a loan.

A close look at YouWin and YES-P made me ask; BOI said they are demanding for all those unreasonable conditions (collateral) in order to ensure the monies are paid back. Well, with such conditions what then makes them different from the commercial banks? I still see a number of YouWin funded businesses thriving till today. From Photography businesses, to schools, laundry, Restaurants, etc. if these businesses could succeed with free money (grant) why won’t YES-P succeed without all these conditions that seem like a deliberate attempt to self-destruct the programme? Why can’t the government give genuine entrepreneurs who have come this far with all the stress and expenses incurred during the training sessions online and offline money for their ideas and businesses?

We don’t mind that it’s a loan (we are willing to pay it back), but what we don’t understand is all these conditions which are actually bottlenecks. It would have been a very successful programme if the bank had given the participants the funds (as loans of course), attach us to mentors who will guide us through the start-up and growth process.

What I don’t understand is if BOI is afraid of losing its money by supporting businesses (their reason for the very unreasonable and stringent conditions) why then were we trained? What was the purpose of the training? Was it not for us to be equipped to be able to utilize and manage the funds we would be given? I remember there was nothing like 3 months online training for YouWin winners, yet many of the winners’ businesses are still operational. Why expend such resources to train entrepreneurs and still be reluctant to give them money?

If BOI and the APC government wants us to take them serious, they should remove all those conditions attached to the YES-P loan and give us the funds for our business with mentors attached to us. We are okay with the money as loans but we are not okay with all those conditions – the depositing of certificates and provisions of guarantors.

Let us start receiving the funds from January 2017. That’s the only way we would take the BOI YES-P scheme and this government serious as far as supporting entrepreneurs and businesses is considered. Anything other than that is a scam. And if that’s the case, then it’s very unfortunate.

For the purpose of emphasis, the BOI YES-P scheme should be without conditions. No deposit of certificates and no provision of guarantors who will have to declare their net worth. Simply attach us to mentors who are seasoned entrepreneurs themselves and give us the funds to run our businesses.

For all those who had all their hopes on YES-P, I understand your pains and the confusion you are in right now. For those who had to spend money to lodge in their places of training for 5 days and feed themselves, I understand your frustration and disappointment right now. My advice would be that if the government doesn’t take this recommendations, then you should just restructure your business plan and think beyond YES-P and BOI.

I don’t want to believe the BOI YES-Programme is a scam, but the way things are going, it’s beginning to appear so. BOI and the government should act and act fast. Pick a clue from YouWin.

I’ll end with a question: what’s the big deal in BOI and the government supporting entrepreneurs and businesses without demanding for unreasonable conditions? YouWin succeeded without those conditions! Don’t make YES-P a scam. Right now it looks like one.



-Donald Yusuf
BOI YES-P Participant