By SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri –
Borno State Government in collaboration with Multi sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP), State Ministry for Reconstruction, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (RRR) have trained and graduated 500 women in the production of households products.
The trainees also got take off grant of N10 million to facilitate their various skills acquisition as starter package.
The five hundred (500) vulnerable women were trained on production, packaging and marketing of household products such as petroleum jelly, hair cream, detergent, washing and bath soap, liquid soap and air fresheners among others.
The beneficiaries who are mainly female headed households and young girls affected by the insurgency were carefully screened and selected by the training partners Bilkhad and Na’ish trainers in in six host communities of Shuwari, Mairi, Fori, Mashamari, Gamboru and Shehuri communities of jere and MMC Local Government Areas of Borno State.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony at the State Project office located along Kashim Ibrahim Way Maiduguri on Friday, the Borno State Coordinator of MCRP, Baba Zanna Abdulkarim commended both the trainers for making positive impact on lives of the trainees and the participants for their commitment to learn means of livelihood for the benefit of their respective families.
He urged them to forget the past and face their future with positive hope and commitment to excel , noting that, the project office sponsored their training to give them hope, sense of belonging and create jobs that will enable them earn means of sustainable income to avert poverty and vices in the society.
He advised them to form cooperative groups based on the trades promising that the project will link them to micro finance Bank to enable them access soft loans by serving as guarantor and secure shops for them through the state ministry for women affairs to create linkage to market.
On his part, the Shehu of Borno Dr, Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai El-kanemi represented by the District Head of Maisandari ward, Alhaji Abba Bukar extolled the efforts of Borno State Government and the MCRP for focusing on female headed households and young girls affected by the insurgency.
He said women remain the worst victims of the insurgency but not many Projects focus on them while describing the training as life changing, the royal father further said, women being nucleus of the family unit need such trainings.
He also urged the women to consider “trading as part of our cultural context instead of allowing men to override them in business and small scale trading activities.
On their parts, the lead consultant of Bilkahd Suleiman Dauda and that of Na’Ish Aisha Musa Kida said the participants were selected out of over five thousand women victims of insurgency in the host communities being the poorest of the poor.
The essence of the training they said, is to change their life by teaching them how to make package and market household products in a bid to earn their living and reduce poverty amongst them, guard their chastity, self-reliant and support their respective families, saying “this is the first set to graduate out of the five thousand billed for similar training across the state.”
The founder of Na’ish Skill Acquisition, Aisha Musa Kidah said all the raw materials are locally sourced without any foreign product, adding that each of the five hundred beneficiaries will be given twenty thousand naira as business take-off grant to commence production in their trade groups of twenty women each.
One of the beneficiaries, Hussaina Usman Abdulkadir said the training has given them sigh of relief and hope for future prosperity and expressed appreciation to the trainers, MCRP and the Borno State Government for the huge support rendered to them.
Highpoint of the event was the presentation of certificates and take off grants to the beneficiaries.
