FINANCIAL FACILITATION AND SOCIO-INDUSTRIAL INCLUSION OF RESIDENTS IN WUKARI, NORTH-EAST NIGERIA

In this study, socio-industrial inclusion is contextualized in relation to cottage industries meant to harness the agricultural potentials of the Wukari community of Taraba State, North-East Nigeria. Financial facilitation capacitates them to contribute towards production complementation, distribution supplementation, ancillary implementation, thus, adding value and supporting the survival and growth of bigger enterprises. Against this backdrop, the study examined the association between financial facilitation and socio-industrial inclusion of residents in the Wukari of Taraba State, North-East Nigeria. Operationally, industrial liquidity, industrial profitability, and industrial diversity featured in relation to financial facilitation, under a descriptive survey design. Requisite data were afforded through respondents’ questionnaire indications. The accessible population was 54 focal operators (who are customers of Zenith Bank PLC) in Wukari community. Retrieval and careful check of the questionnaire for completeness culminated in the adoption of 46 (85%) submissions for further processing. Analysis of data utilized descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and regression tools on inferential terms, facilitated by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Additively, the results indicated that majority of respondents affirmed that financial facilitation is associated with socio-industrial inclusion of residents in the critical dimensions. The study concluded that there is a significant association between financial facilitation and socio-industrial inclusion of residents in the Wukari community. Based on the conclusion, the study recommends conscientious deepening of financial facilitation by intensifying customized socio-industrial incentives in the community. This will enable the cottage industries to fund infrastructure, find opportunities, and fix productive capacities for sustainable development.