The Federal Government of Borno State has announced that it will provide the Chibok community with farming equipment and other accessories for skill acquisition valued at N210 million naira in an effort to revive the local economy following the regrettable displacement of the community in 2014 due to the abduction of schoolgirls from Girls Secondary School, Chibok.Yesterday, during a courtesy call in her Abuja office, a delegation from the Chibok community, led by its district head, Engr. Ahmadu Usman, revealed this to Minister of Women Affairs Barrister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye.
It was decided, she said, that 50% of the money paid by the federal government as school fees for the kidnapped Chibok girls who were later released should be reinvested into helping the affected families and community to raise their standard of living. This decision was made after careful consultation with the administration of the American University, Yola.
She claimed that in keeping with the current administration's Renewed Hope Agenda, this was done to provide some measure of respite from the psychological anguish that the impacted families and the community as a whole had endured following the horrific tragedy.
"We operate transparently under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration, which is why we inform you of what is being purchased so that you are aware of what to anticipate. For this empowerment, we require one member of each victim's family who has been abducted. We went to ensure their advantage.
"We will select one individual from each of the other extremely vulnerable households that we find. In addition to relying on this intervention, she stated, we will enroll these individuals in our program by working with the banks to open accounts and integrate them into our system, enabling them to take advantage of future government initiatives.
In order to improve the community's means of subsistence as well as for socioeconomic growth and development, the Minister notes that the government is committed to the wellbeing of women, children, and other vulnerable members of society. For this reason, in partnership with the American University, 50% of the N420 million raised will be used to purchase industrial machines for rice and corn milling, solar pumping machines (for irrigation farming), fish grilling machines, sewing machines, tricycle trucks, and other purposes.
Dr. Asabe Bashir, Director-General of the Maryam Babangida National Center for Women's Development (MBNCWD), stated that the empowerment of the Chibok Community will significantly contribute to the community's people' regaining some semblance of optimism.
She urged the recipients of the Chibok project to get involved in order to guarantee a change in their standard of living and the implementation of the administration led by President Bola Tinubu's policies.
In response, Chibok community district head Engr. Ahmadu Usman congratulated the minister of women's affairs as well as President Bola Tinubu in particular for the initiative, which was meant to revitalize, empower, and instill optimism in the community.
Assuring that the community will put them to good use for the benefit of the afflicted families and community, he promised that when the equipment is acquired, it will assist to enhance the economy of the town, state, and country at large.