Women, youth empowerment earn award for Giwa LG chair

The Legislative Writers Association had conferred an honourary award on the chairman of Giwa local government council, Alhaji Abubakar Shehu Giwa, in recognition of his various women and youth empowerment programmes.

Presenting the award on behalf of the association, Mr Ogwaje Abrahma Jomoh, said the decision to honour the chairman stemmed from the impact of his programmes on the vulnerable members of the society.

Jomoh urged other chairmen to emulate the good work of Alhaji Abubakar to stem the rise of poverty especially in the rural areas.

Speaking, Shehu Giwa said aside improving the lives of residents; his administration’s empowerment effort is also aimed at curtailing insecurity in the area.

“Giwa local government is sharing borders with Zamfara, Katsina and Birnin Gwari, which are being bedeviled by menace of banditry. We feel that empowering our people and making them self-reliant can deter them from being involved in crime.

“This is why apart from the 150 women that were given 450 goats, 500 men with low income were also given N10,000 each. The fact that our area is largely a farming community, 100 cows with their implements were given to 100 selected youths for farming. Similarly, about 200 girls that are out of school were trained on weaving and all were given sewing machines and 1,630 students in tertiary institutions are receiving scholarship, among many other programmes.”

A husband of one of the women beneficiaries, Muhammad Aliyu, said the natural fertility of goats gives them advantage over other types of animals.

He added: “They multiply within a short period of time and they are easy to maintain. A woman can rear them at the comfort of her home without much stress. The initiative is a well-thought one.”