Nigeria is indeed an interesting country. Here is a country with a large population of young people and high unemployment rate, yet those in authority act as if everything is alright or, in many instances, paint pictures of a bright future.

The Aso Villa Demo Day/GEM grants is a sad reminder of how a country takes delight in dashing the hopes of young start-ups. I remember when I first heard about the Aso Villa Demo Day in 2016, I felt it did not make sense and the price money of N3m to each of the three winners made me wonder what the person who came up with the idea was thinking.



Consequently, in a 2016 piece on this column, entitled ‘Expanding Aso Villa Demo Day project,’ I asked, ‘beyond the media hype, Public Relations and glitz of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Mark Zuckerberg, gracing the grand finale; what really is the value of Aso Villa Demo Day to this ecosystem that is still very much in a struggle mode?’

Here is an excerpt: “I believe we can achieve better results if the fund spent in organising the grand event at the seat of power was spent on smaller events through already established pipelines (hubs and similar initiatives) in various states or zones. This is likely the type of strategy that will generate more sustainable results for us in the long term than awarding prize money to a lucky few.”

Be that as it may, I was impressed when news filtered in that the Federal Government was going to support a number of those who pitched at the event with the Growth and Employment Project grant.

This, for me, was a good development. Surprisingly, the list of AVDD start-ups to benefit jumped from 30 to 81 in total. This master move by the government gave doubting Thomases like me a shut-up-your-mouth sign.

However, if reports filtering in now are anything to go by, they are proving us right because many of the beneficiaries now believe that they were simply being set up for failure. Yes, they got the first tranche of the grant a few weeks after the announcement and went ahead to create extensive plans.

Some ordered new equipment while others hired new workers hoping that the other tranche would come soon. Sadly, days have turned to weeks and weeks to months. All they keep getting is, ‘we are working on it’.

Out of curiosity, I decided to carry out some research and found an information on the World Bank website (http://projects.worldbank.org/P103499/nigeria-growth-employment-states?lang=en), which showed that come September 7, 2018, the project would come to an end and funds running into millions of dollars that are yet to be disbursed, would have to be refunded.

One of the causes of the delay has been a controversial proposed restructuring of the Growth and, Employment Project and the alleged diversion of the remaining $35m from its account to other uses, which has now been suspended by the House of Representatives following a motion moved by Mark Gbillah, who has been at the forefront of ensuring that these monies get disbursed to the beneficiaries.



The big question is: why does the most basic project that will add value become controversial in Nigeria?

I read a Punch report entitled ‘GEM grant beneficiaries lament delay in release of funds’. What shocked me in that report was the statement credited to the Communications Adviser, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Bisi Daniels.

Daniels said, “The project had not been stopped, and facilitators were still committed to helping the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises attain their full potential in Nigeria.”

The question I will love to ask is, how exactly are they trying to help them? In the business world, it is often said that cash-flow is king. So, if you deny start-ups of funds, then you are simply killing and not helping them.

Our government officials get excited when they describe the successes of Silicon Valley but fail to understand the deep culture of support and massive funding opportunities that work with other factors to make that possible.

How is a start-up supposed to succeed in a system that is so difficult and harsh? How would a group of young people be promised some money and are urged to go on planning only to have their hopes dashed?

I honestly do feel for them and the least I can do is to use this column to bring the world’s attention to this injustice being meted to those trying to solve problems.

In a piece by Ifeanyi Ndiomewese of Techpoint Africa, entitled ‘2 years after, secrecy and resentment still shroud Aso Villa Demo Day, he stated: “It goes without saying that ICT, like other high growth sectors, is a major vehicle to drive on-going economic diversification programmes.”

There are high chances that AVDD can define the pace in ICT entrepreneurship landscape in Nigeria in years to come. But we fear this might not be the case.

Also, it is even more baffling that GEM and PwC, despite their pedigree on the international stage, have not satisfactorily effected a World Bank grant of this magnitude. Instead, they seem to have watched passively as the full amount of $3m (N756.3m) was being touted as money disbursed to grantees.

We suspect that there is more to mismanagement of the funds than meets the eye and these entrepreneurs might as well be pawns in someone else’s game.

A source with knowledge of the project informed me that the World Bank through its country director, Rachid Benmessaoud, has offered Nigeria two options: option one, if the project continues to stall, then, by September 7, 2018, the disbursed balance would be refunded and option two, revert to the original plan as approved, then, write to request for an extension to September 2019.

As of the time of writing, it was not certain that option two, which is the most sensible option, had been explored but hopefully, the growing pressure from various quarters would convince our all-wise, super-intelligent government officials to do what is most beneficial for our nation, especially in a period of painful economic challenges and high unemployment rate.

Therefore, for the sake of numerous start-ups looking forward to receiving their grants, I call on the Federal Government, the Office of the Vice President, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the World Bank, Growth and Employment project, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and any other MDAs or organisations involved, to sort out whatever issues are pending in a transparent manner while seeing to it that young Nigerians are supported to thrive in their proposed enterprises.

Typical of our fire brigade approach, I know that funds will likely be disbursed in the next couple of days in unbelievable ways and reports have it that some technology hubs have already started to receive some grant monies. It is a welcome development as long it is done transparently and fairly.

What baffles me in all of these is that most of the affected start-ups are scared of coming out to talk about their experiences, for fear of being victimised, but in their WhatsApp group, they constantly express their displeasure. If everyone is afraid to speak out, how then would Nigeria change?

Dear leaders of tomorrow (or today), be bold and let the world know that more than one year after, you are yet to receive the second tranche of the GEM grant. That is one way to build a better sustainable system.


Source - https://punchng.com/why-is-aso-villa-demo-daygem-grant-stalled/

You don't need a prophet nor soothsayer to tell you it was all for the camera and their selfish politically motivated interest.

Like the op said, young people have once again been used as pawns for someone else's games. They have been set up to divert those funds to the saintly, anti-corruption pockets currently littering the APC and Aso Rock from the head to wherever it stopped.

So yes, op. It was a scam till this point and y'all have been politically and 'royally' fückd.

We watch n wait.

Keep on rocking, Olobo kibo! They have been scammed oo.

Scam scammer scammest

A very big scam alongside Youwin Connect!

Something like a scam

Scam! Yet you find youth supporting these people

Osinbajo will be speaking English everywhere and attending events

Politicians, pastors and yahoo boys i beg who scam pass?

.

APC the political HQ of Yahoo Yahoo

Government of lies and deceit.

My brother, I was there, and I can tell you for free that from the preliminary stages, I knew it was a scam.

From the Asokoro hub centre until the Aso Rock Handshake Scam with Mark of Facebook, it was all Fraud.

APC is a fraud in all their dealings, I can tell you these.

See how much these minions said
1. Subsidy
2. School feeding and
3. 14 Kilometer of rail line will cost.

They use a good gesture to enrich themselves.

Saint everywhere yet fraud keeps multiplying. Every corner you look in their midst, you will see fraudulent people shouting We are Saints. The worse type of corruption is pretence, it makes your target feel safe in your hands while you gradually execute his death. Same tactics yahoo boys adopt.

Osinbanjo

The biggest Fraud, had to Travel from one state to Abuja only to witness a whole lot of false moves.

It was all for show.