By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
No fewer than 1,600 rural women selected from the 20 local government areas of Bauchi State were empowered by the Bauchi Sustainable Women Economic Empowerment and Peace Initiative (B-SWEEP) to enable them become self-reliance and sustaining.
Speaking at the skills acquisition programme graduation ceremony for the beneficiaries at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Bauchi, the wife of the state governor, Hajiya Hadiza said the training was carried out in collaboration with Ministry of Women Affairs, supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Hadiza explained that beneficiaries were trained by B-SWEEP, a non-governmental organization she set up in various skills such as soap making, pastries, tailoring, bead making and hairdressing, who will be given a total sum of N16 million with each beneficiary taking home N10, 000 as a starter pack.
She opined that money to be given to the program beneficiaries will enable them start the various vocations they were trained on with a view to becoming self-employed and possibly employers of labour in their various communities.
“Women as we all know are indispensable to the survival of the home. Therefore, any attention of this soft-target at improving their lives would have a trickle and multiplier effect because of the position they occupy”, Hadiza said.
She added, “The selection was consciously done to reflect the geographical spread and the political posture of the state. The training is packaged for women in the rural areas who need basic skills to harness the resources in their environment”.
Governor Mohammed Abubakar has in a remark at the occasion said that the skills acquisition programme conducted for the beneficiaries by the office of his wife was a remarkable one.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Engineer Nuhu Gidado, assured that more support will be given to B-SWEEP conduct more of such laudable programmes for the benefits to reach every common man in the state.