Economic Empowerment
Only one in 100,000 women has access to funds for economic empowerment, according to statistics.
This means that women are more vulnerable and constitute over 60 percent of the entire population of people living below the poverty level in Nigeria, the wife of the Vice President of Nigeria, Hajia Amina Namadi Sambo has said.
She said plans are in the pipeline to build empowerment centres for youths and women in all states of the country.
Hajia Amina was speaking at the graduation ceremony of beneficiaries of her pet project, I-CARE Women and Youth Initiative and National Directorate of Employment (NDE) collaborative skills acquisition programme in Kaduna.
One hundred women including 30 physically challenged were empowered in skill acquisition including interior decoration, confectioneries, cosmetology and knitting.
The beneficiaries were given starter packs depending on the trade learnt to enable them begin to practice what they have learnt during the programme.
She stressed that the essence of the synergy between I-CARE and NDE was to empower the womenfolk, to better their lives and family through the acquisition of commercial skills thereby giving them the opportunity of a lifetime to fight poverty and hardship in their immediate family and community at large.
Mrs. Amina Sambo who was represented by the wife of Kaduna State governor, Mrs. Amina Yakowa advised all the beneficiaries to use their equipment well to create wealth, urging them to use the money gotten from the skills acquired to support their husbands, train their children as well as give employment to others so as to reduce the burden of poverty.
Daily Trust gathered that each beneficiary was to get N50,000 out of which the equipment was bought and that the balance given to each beneficiary.
"Those whose equipment cost N30,000 will get the balance of N20,000, while those whose equipment cost N45,000 will get a balance of N5,000 as startup capital depending on the trade learnt," NDE state coordinator, Isa Abdu said, adding that it is a pilot programme.
The Overseer and Director of Administration and Finance of the Kaduna State Poverty Alleviation Programme Office, Mallam Aminu Zailani during his speech also disclosed Mrs. Amina Yakowa's intention to collaborate with the state Poverty Alleviation Programme office to organize a three-week intensive training workshop for 345 women and youths in the 23 local government areas of the state on peace, skills acquisition and empowerment.
"The training will include lectures on peace and nation building as well as skills in knitting, kampala making, cake baking, juice making, fish farming, fresh tomatoes and pepper preservation and hair dressing, while start-up kits will be presented to all the trained women and youths alongside some token for hiring shops to start business after graduation," he explained.