Zamfara gov’s wife flags off women empowerment programme

TRACKING>>Zamfara State Governor’s wife, Hajiya A’isha Bello, has flagged off women empowerment programme with a view to achieving a drastic reduction in poverty in the state.

The programme was part of the state government’s plans to boost economic activities through providing N20, 000 to each of the 100 women from the 14 local government councils of the state on monthly basis under the office of the governor’s wife.

While distributing the funds to the first 400 beneficiaries from four piloting local government areas comprising Kaura Namoda, Shinkafi, Birnin Magaji and Zurmi, Hajiya A’isha, she said the aim of the gesture was to improve the wellbeing of women in the state.

“By collecting these monies, you are expected to start small scale businesses, which in the meantime may grow enough to take care of yourselves, your children’s minor schools needs and to support problems surrounding your husbands.

“The state government learnt that your total reliance on husbands’ earnings was part of the major challenges contributing to the rapid growth of poverty in the society, but in the situation whereby wives have acquired means of taking part of running the matrimonial affairs, the relation would be and remain cordial,” Bello said.

Earlier, Emir of Kaura Namoda, Muhammad Ahmad Asha, called on the governor’s wife to be very vigilant as he had received complaints from some of the beneficiaries that the programme’s coordinator in the local government had been discovered that she was giving either N1,000 to N1,500 to beneficiary as against the stated sum of N20,000.