Bauchi Plans to Spend N990m On Poverty Reduction

from All Africa

Leadership (Abuja)

Bauchi State government has planned to spend over N990 million to finance youth empowerment and poverty reduction programmes this year.

Commissioner for co-operatives and poverty alleviation, Alhaji Buhari Dissina, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Bauchi.

Dissina said that over 100 co-operative societies had been registered to benefit from the various empowerment and poverty reduction programmes of the government.

He said the priority accorded the sector was in line with the commitment of the Isa Yuguda's administration to empower the people and reduce poverty among youths and women in the state.

The commissioner said that more than 5,000 youths would be trained in various trades under the ministry's skills acquisition programme this year alone.

"After six months of training in the trade of their choice, the beneficiaries will be given some capital to start their own business," Dissina said.

He said the state government had mapped out strategies to ensure effective implementation of its empowerment and poverty alleviation programmes.

"Already, we have a loan recovery committee to recover all previous loans granted individuals and co-operative societies in the last five years," Dissina said.

According to him, arrangements were being put in place to monitor the prospective beneficiaries of all future poverty alleviation loans.

The state government said that it was only able to recover N70 million out of the over N408 million loans disbursed to individuals and co-operative societies between 2001 and 2007 in the state.