The Niger State Governor in North Central Nigeria, Abubakar Bello, has flagged off the distribution of empowerment tools and startup packs to institutions, youths and women in the state
The Governor who distributed the items in Minna, the state capital, observed the need to empower youths and women in the society as he described them as good managers.
According to the Governor, empowering women has a multiplier effect on the family and the society.
“We must do whatever we can to reduce the hardship of women. Women are good managers. If you invest in one woman, you are investing in over a 100. No matter how little you support, they make very good use of it,“ he said.
The Governor also acknowledged the large number of unemployed youths compared to the availability of jobs, adding that the way forward is to provide entrepreneurship skills to make them self-reliant.
“We have to think out of the box to support people to become entrepreneurs, that is the only way to reduce unemployment”.
The Governor who promised to provide more equipment to scale up the number of beneficiaries before his tenure expires, urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the items to become employers of labour.
The Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Yusuf Suleiman explained that the beneficiaries have gone through trainings on various skills and trades that would make them successful entrepreneurs.
He further assured that the Ministry will ensure the effective use of the items through continuous monitoring of the beneficiaries.
The Chairman, Youth Council of Nigeria, Niger State Chapter, Abdullahi Sheriff applauded Governor Abubakar Sani Bello for his giant strides aimed at empowering the teaming youths in the state.
Over 1,770 items were distributed including sewing machines, knitting machines, sets of tool boxes, pumping machines, filing machines and small electrical generator sets.
The beneficiaries cut across technical and vocational colleges, school for special education, Nigerian Correctional Centres, Training Institutions, Associations, fashion centres and their graduated trainees among others.
PIAK
