Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, on Tuesday empowered another batch of 5,200 women with N260 million under the state government’s empowerment programme aimed at improving livelihoods across the 44 local government areas of the state.
Speaking at the event, Governor Yusuf said the initiative was part of his administration’s ongoing efforts to support women with financial assistance for small-scale business ventures. He explained that new measures were introduced to ensure the funds reached the right beneficiaries after discrepancies were found in the first phase of the programme.
“Following the discovery of discrepancies in the disbursement during the first phase, we introduced measures to ensure the money reaches the targeted beneficiaries,” the governor stated.
According to him, each local government now has a 20-member committee responsible for supervising the disbursement process. The committee includes traditional rulers, local government chairmen, and party officials to ensure transparency and accountability.
The governor urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the financial support by investing in small-scale enterprises that would enhance their economic stability and contribute to community development. He reminded the women that the empowerment initiative fulfilled one of his campaign promises made in 2023.
“We promised to support you in taking care of yourselves and your children. We pledged to make you self-reliant and to take care of your health, especially the health of pregnant women among you and children,” Yusuf said. “Today we have fulfilled our promise. We will be doing this to the same number of women but with some modifications to ensure transparency and accountability.”
Deputy Governor Aminu Gwarzo also cautioned the beneficiaries against misusing the funds, emphasizing that the empowerment package was designed to uplift their living conditions.
A cross-section of the beneficiaries expressed appreciation to the Kano State Government, describing the initiative as timely support that would help them start and grow small businesses.