Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Saturday distributed 34 buses and four ambulances to health centres and communities in Yobe North Senatorial District.
Lawan, who inaugurated the distribution in Gashua, headquarters of the senatorial district, disclosed that N87 million was expended on procurement of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), forms to 2,000 candidates seeking admission slots into tertiary institutions.
He also distributed power transformers, entrepreneurial materials to 350 persons, water pumps and accessories for irrigation, computer sets, tricycles, assorted fertilisers, grinding and vulcanizer machines as well as grants to facilitate take-off of various businesses.
Lawan said that the empowerment programme was aimed at providing sustainable livelihood to the beneficiaries.
Gov. Mai Mala Buni, in a remark, commended the Senate President over the gesture, saying that it would go a long way to reduce poverty in the six local government areas of the district.
Buni noted that viable programmes under the empowerment scheme had great potential to lift the beneficiaries out of unemployment and make them employers of labour.
“You should use the materials donated to you by the Senate President judiciously to become self-reliant and employ others, to reduce unemployment and poverty in the state” Buni urged the beneficiaries.
Also speaking, Sen. Ibrahim Gaidam, representing Yobe East Senatorial District, said the empowerment programme would curb crime in the area.
Gaidam, who is also the immediate past governor of the state, advised the beneficiaries against selling the materials.
“You should please establish your ventures to become self-reliant and employers of labour,” he said.
Some of the beneficiaries, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), commended Lawan for the gesture, adding that many families would now have a means of livelihood
