Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno said he had empowered 1,000 unemployed youths with N100 million in Biu.
This is contained in a statement signed and issued in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Baba-Sheik Haruna, on Friday.
He said the grant, which ceremony was held at the Kadafur Cinema premises in Biu town, was to be used as start-up capital for micro and small scale businesses to stimulate the economy of the area.
The event was part of the governor’s 3-day tour to the Borno South Senatorial headquarters to commission various projects executed by his administration.
While calling on the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the grant, the governor said the government would continue to sustain efforts to reduce unemployment and to fight poverty by assisting the vulnerable, among others.
He explained that poverty, unemployment and lack of education played crucial roles in the emergence of Boko Haram in the state.
During the period, Zulum commissioned a Mega Government Secondary School in Buratai with 1,500 students capacity, inaugurated a higher Islamic School for 1,200 students in Biu and a Zonal Education Monitoring and Evaluation Department also in Biu.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Youth Empowerment, Sports Development and Poverty Alleviation, Saina Buba said the 1,000 beneficiaries were selected from wards across Biu LGA.
He said the governor, who had since 2019, launched various economic packages that offered cash support to small and medium scale entrepreneurs, did not leave out the physically challenged and the aged. (NAN)
