After commissioning a water project which ended 50 years of water scarcity in Gwari village of Dutse local government area, Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi has distributed N50,000 empowerment grants to12,000 rural women.
Gwari, a community on top of rocks on the outskirts of Dutse local government area, was brought to government and public attention after media reports on the agony of inhabitants who lack good drinking water and other amenities.
Speaking on the occasion, Governor Namadi said the effort was part of his government’s commitment to empower people of different categories, tackle poverty, promote jobs and create wealth.
He said 51 percent of the state’s population of 7.5 million are females, and women appear to be more economically backward, therefore it is very important to empower them in order to reduce poverty.
He added, “Today, we are lunching another round of women empowerment in Jigawa State by targeting 12,600 women with grants of N50,000 each to improve or start their own businesses.
“Besides this, we also signed an MOU with the World Bank for women empowerment, in which we have increased our counter funding from N50 million to N500 million. We also injected N4 billion into the Bank of Industry for empowering our people with special and simple packages for women in addition to different packages we gave them in the past.
“We are optimistic that besides poverty eradication, women empowerment will help in reducing domestic crises, promote peace and love in the family which will enhance children’s moral upbringing, public productivity, growth and development in the state.”
Commissioner for women affairs, Hajiya Hadiza Abdulwahab, said 200 women were selected from Gwari village and nearby communities, and selection was made based on priority needs across rural communities in the 27 local government areas of the state.
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