The All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Candidate in Kano State, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawauna, says the Ganduje Administration in the state has empowered 14,500 women and youths since its inception in 2015.
Gawauna, who is also the Deputy Governor of the state, disclosed this while answering questions during a debate organised for five governorship candidates in the state by the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) at the Aliko Dangote Business School, Bayero University, Kano (BUK).
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He said the beneficiaries were empowered with various skills under the State Government’s Skills Acquisition Programme geared towards self-reliance.
He also announced that a Skills Acquisition Centre had already been open, and that a Portal had been commissioned through which more youths and women were registering for training on various trades for self reliance.
The Deputy Governor said when he was the Commissioner for Agriculture under the defunct Kwankwaso Administration, 9,900 youths and women were empowered complete with their tools under the Ministry of Agriculture, but that about 80 percent of the men among them sold the materials, while 70 percent of the women held on to their own.
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He said with the experience gotten from that previous exercise, Government ensured that the beneficiaries made judicious use of the empowerment materials.
As a result,he said, 80 percent of the women who benefited from the subsequent empowerment scheme did not sell their materials, while 50 percent of their male counterparts also retained theirs.
The APC Flagbearer, therefore, expressed the need to educate the youths to know their responsibilities and importance of self reliance.
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The other candidates, Abba Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP, Mohammed Sani Abacha of the PDP, Salihu Tanko Yakasai of the PRP and Sha’aban Ibrahim Sharada of the ADP, answered questions from the audience on various issues including health, commerce,education and agriculture, and pledged to improve the sectors.
Dignitaries who witnessed the debate included the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas,the Kano State Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs,and Spokesperson of the Gawauna/ Garo Campaign Council, Malam Muhammad Garba, and party supporters.
