Committed to alleviating poverty in his senatorial zone, Senator representing Kaduna central senatorial zone, Comrade Shehu Sani has launched a programme to empower three thousand four hundred (3400) women in Kaduna State.
Addressing newsmen shortly after launching the programme at his Tudun Wada office, Senator Sani said about N80 million is budgeted for the project that is targeted at three thousand four hundred (3400) from seven local government areas in the zone. According to him, “it is part of the constituency project for Kaduna Central that I have embarked upon and it consists of areas which will directly affects the lives of our people.”It is an intervention in education, in health, in empowerment, in skills acquisition, in trades, in sports and recreation, it is an intervention to alleviate the sufferings of the masses of the people and to also give them an opportunity to foster their skills. “This is one of so many programmes which I have as a senator, it is very clear to me that many of our women within this very constituency have being unable to address some of their basic needs in terms of educating their children paying their rent and also taking care of their families. “So by giving them this opportunity and also evolving some policy by giving them soft grant, they will be able to take off from there and I can say that this is my own personal intervention to address the problem of poverty in our society.” Senator Sani explained that the reason the project is taking off with women is because he believed that “when you empowers a woman you empowers a whole society.”
He said: “The programme includes providing them opportunities to learn skills on soap making, perfumery, tailoring services and also general artisans to help them at least to start a small scale activities in their various homes. We are in a very religious society where women are not allowed to come out and engage in some acts of trade, but what we are trying do is to provide them the knowledge and skills to work within their own matrimonial homes and be able to complement the earnings of their husbands.”
“We are very much appreciative that they have embraced this programme and we are committed to the course. Not only providing them opportunities to learn trades and skills, but is also a step towards giving them soft capital,” he added.