A scheme has been shared on Whatsapp purporting that the Federal Government of Nigeria is giving support funds to women in small scale businesses.
Tagged “FG Women Small Scale Business Support Fund 2024”, the message indicated that the Federal Government of President Bola Tinubu, through the Ministry of Finance, is offering ₦65,000 to Nigerian women in small scale businesses for six months. The message included an online portal for women in business to apply in order to receive the money.
A screenshot of the message as seen on WhatsApp
Verification
Our curiosity was first drawn to the apparent clumsy grammar of the WhatsApp message. For instance, the expression “high level of complains” (sic) and “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have urge (sic) that..” are grammatically incorrect and uncharacteristic of government communication at national and sub-national levels. These errors appear suspicious.
A keyword search was conducted to ascertain if the Federal Government of Nigeria has any such programme for Nigerian women in business.
Indeed, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs has a project called the Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP). It is a long-term partnership between the Federal Government and World Bank to ensure gender equality. But there is no fund or grant attached to this project.
The Federal Government of Nigeria also recently announced a ₦50,000 grant through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, for one million applicants for the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme for small business owners operating in trading, food services, ICT, transportation, creatives, and artisans in the 774 local government areas of the country. The scheme started on March 9, 2024.
Also, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs awarded grants of ₦50,000 to 20 female entrepreneurs in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. There is no mention of ₦65,000 in this scheme.
Phantom Portal
The portal provided for application was also explored.
When we punched the portal/website into a browser, it opened into a page whose address (circled in red below) indicated that it was copied from a blog site.
It opened with the address bearing “South Africa Women Support Fund” even though it contained details inquiring about Nigeria.
Screenshot of the portal
From keyword search results, it is clear that the Federal Government of Nigeria does not have such a scheme either on-going or planned for the foreseeable future. A scrutiny of the portal provided in the message circulated on WhatsApp also returned invalid.
Therefore, it is apparent that this message is a phantom scheme to fleece unsuspecting innocent Nigerian women of their sensitive data which can be used to defraud them in the future.
