By Beauty John, LAFIA
The Nasarawa state government, Tuesday, disbursed start-off grants to 150 women who participated in a two-day Women Entrepreneurial and Skill Acquisition training held in Lafia.
Governor Abdullahi Sule, who disbursed the grant to the trainees drawn from the 13 local government areas of the state, charged them to use the skills acquired to be self reliant and employers of labour.
“You would recall that in June this year, we flagged-off a 2-day Training Programme on Women Entrepreneurial and Skill Acquisitions, aimed at empowering women with appropriate skills for self-employment and reliance.
“Today’s occasion is therefore, in fulfilment of my pledge at that event to disburse start-off grants to the participants of the training exercise across the 13 Local Government Areas of the State,” he said.
The participants were trained in the production of hand sanitizer, soap making, perfume making, bread making, cake baking and pomade, among others.
The governor noted that women are the backbone of the informal sector, which contribute largely in driving our economy and are also in the forefront of sustenance of our social and community wellbeing, through the upbringing, education, as well as inculcating moral values of our children.
According to the governor, in spite of this effort, women suffer some kind of discrimination and deny access to opportunities to harness their potential for the benefit of our society.
“This informed the resolve of this administration to prioritize the empowerment of women and youths by liberating them in order to make them active players in our economic development process,” he stated.
“As a follow-up to the training programme, today’s event is to further empower the trainees with the needed resources to start-off the production of the skills acquired for self-reliance. In this regard, one hundred and fifty (150) women will today, benefit from a grant of ten thousand naira (N10,000) each.
Governor Sule also added the sum of 10,000 naira each from his own bursary and a bag of semovita to the trainees.
He assured that his administration will continue to provide the needed enablement for women and youths in line with policy objectives of providing succour to the good people of the State.
Sule commend the “B” Innovation Integrated Limited for collaborating with the State Government in imparting basic skills in various human endeavor, towards the empowerment of the women folk in the State.
Earlier, the commissioner of women affairs and social development, Halima Jabiru thanked the governor for his continuous support to women in the state, urging that he sustains the tempo.
