IWD: Borno gov’s wife distributes N150m, food items to vulnerable women

The First Lady of Borno State, Dr Falmata Babagana Umara Zulum, on Friday, celebrated the International Women’s Day (IWD) by distributing the sum of N150 million cash and food items to 3,000 vulnerable women.

The IWD is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

This year’s (2024) theme, “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress”, aims for gender equality and the well-being of women in all aspects of life.

Each of the 3,000 beneficiaries selected across the 27 Local Government Areas of Borno received N50,000 cash, one bag of rice, one carton of macaroni and a gallon of 5 litres of cooking oil.

According to the First Lady, “I am humbled and very excited today that 3,000 women pitched from all the 27 Local Government Areas of Borno State will be empowered with N50,000 each, a bag of 25kg rice, a carton of macaroni and a gallon of 5 litres of cooking oil.”

Meanwhile, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has assured the women in the state of his administration’s commitment to providing accessible livelihood sources to make them self-reliant as well as contribute to the economic development of the state.

He said the Borno State Government would prioritise engaging women to learn vocational skills to enhance their livelihood.

“Let me assure you that my administration will continue to extend support to women. We would, in addition to the five mega vocational institutes, provide more opportunities for women to engage in vocational education so that they can be self-reliant rather than receive handouts,” Zulum stated.

He added, “What we are planning is not always to give rice and cash to our women, but empower you to stand on your own.”

“In this part of the world, women’s development is key. Most of our women in the last ten years suffered unimaginable hardship. The terrorists destroyed their belongings, their husbands were killed, and they were traumatised. Therefore, women need to earn their livelihood by themselves,” Zulum said.

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The Governor, who promised to strengthen girl child education, congratulated Borno women on the occasion of International Women’s Day. 

“We will prioritise the girl child’s education because education is the bedrock for any meaningful development,” Zulum assured.