29th May, 2017
The Jigawa Government said on Tuesday that it had empowered no fewer than 50,100 youths, including women and persons with disabilities in the areas of income generating trades in the last two years.
Gov. Muhammad Badaru, who made this disclosure while speaking at the 2017 Democracy Day in Dutse, said that the beneficiaries were trained and empowered in various income-generating trades.
Badaru said that creating opportunities for self-actualisation through targeted empowerment programmes formed the cardinal objectives of the sustainable growth and development agenda of his administration.
He noted that his effort was an improvement on the previous administration’s approach to economic empowerment, which was largely based on stereotyped skills with no viability or sustainability.
The governor said that the previous administration, had budgeted huge sums of money annually for equipment and working capital with less emphasis on monitoring and evaluation to ensure continuity.
According to him, his administration adopted a demand-driven approach with an assessment team deployed to every Local Government Area to identify specific trade and enterprise gaps.
He said the intention was to fill such gaps in a profitable and sustainable way by matching each intervention with the gap identified.
Badaru said that a standing steering committee he headed, was meeting monthly to assess progress or otherwise of each empowerment programme on a zonal level and make adjustment where necessary.
He said that every intervention was appraised from a business perspective and loans and capital guaranteed in full before disbursement.
According to him, the intention is to create revolving fund that is only augmented by government for scale up and expansion.
Other targeted empowerment programmes funded in the period under review were the sesame production, an internship programme and goat breeding programme for indigent widows.
“So far, over 50,100 youths, women and people with disabilities have benefited from the various empowerment programmes initiated by the State Government in the last two years.
“In the same vein, social safety nets and social welfare support for vulnerable persons, including social security for the disabled have been extended to more than 100,000 people during the last two years.
“The partnership with NGOs and various development organisations as well as the Federal Government’s special intervention scheme, has made a significant progress in poverty reduction”.
According to him, the initiative is also creating youth awareness for the emerging business opportunities, especially in the agriculture sector and other related services.