Tradermoni Scheme and the 2019 Elections in Nigeria

This work examined the tradermoni scheme and the 2019 elections in Nigeria. Tradermoni scheme is one of the federal government social investment programs that have actually sparked off criticisms from different people and political parties in the country. The scheme looked at how best to improve and empower petty traders and artisans in the country. From the study, we discovered that: there are fears in some quarters, that this initiative failed to start when it ought to have started (2015) but rather 2018 which makes it looks like an inducement to voters (vote buying) for the 2019 elections and the initiative has been confirmed to have actually helped petty traders in recognized markets throughout the federation to upgrade their stocks from N 10, 000 –N 100, 000 and collateral and interest are not involved when accessing the loan. As a result of the above, the following recommendations were made: There is need for the federal government to convince every Nigerian that the scheme is not a vote buying initiative for the 2019 elections but rather doing what they felt is needed to be done in empowering the petty traders and artisans looking for means to access loans to upgrade their businesses and the federal government as a matter of urgency should ensure that the scope of tradermoni scheme is increased to encompass other locations not recognized presently where petty traders are found in each of the states. The federal government should ensure that an initiative like this is enshrined in our constitution because this is one of the programs by this government that has actually empowered and touched the poor masses financially or otherwise without knowing or having connection with someone in government.

Keywords: Tradermoni, Elections, Artisans, Traders and Nigeria.