Widows solicit government support on microcredit

SOME women including widows in Pesepa Community in Bwari Area Council have called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration to support them with microcredit to boost their farming capacity and enhance food production.

The women who made the appeal in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that a lot of them find difficulties engaging in large-scale farming due to lack of funds.

One of the women, Mrs Hana Musa, explained that they needed capital to enable them sustain their husbands and adequately cater for their children needs both academically and otherwise.

According to her, if they have access to such funds they could conveniently engage in large-scale farming, buy modern milling machines, cassava processing, storage facilities and save time in processing their crops.

She further urged governments to expedite action by providing them soft loans to tackle poverty and hunger across the country.

She said: “Though we find it difficult to farm in large scale but the little crops we harvest get rotten in the farm because we are unable to convey them home due to bad roads.

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“At times we trek long distances to other communities like Ija Gwari in Niger State to mill our grains which poses lot of dangers to us and our children.

“If government can assist us with money we will be able to invest it wisely by extending our farmlands, procuring food processors and tractors, among others, and such efforts will translate to bountiful harvest and by and large ensure food security in the nation.”

Also, Mrs Daudu Musa identified some of their challenges to include bad road to convey their crops from farms, animals like monkeys and baboons consuming and destroying their grains, among others.

She, however, noted that presently, majority of their grains, crops are being devoured by animals, adding that provision of such fund will assist them in purchasing chemicals to fumigate their farmlands and safeguard their grains from being destroyed by animals.

Musa also called for the urgent intervention of government for construction of good roads for easy access to the markets to sell their products.

Similarly, Mrs Lami Sunday, aged 110, pleaded with the government to provide jobs for jobless youths in order to empower them to adequately cater for the aged in the society.

Sunday lamented that a large number of youths in the community including her grandchildren were restive due to unemployment, adding that such gap has a negative impact on the welfare of the elderly in the society.

She said: “Government is supposed to be responsible for the well-being of vulnerable women and aged in the society but failed and our children and grandchildren are not in the position to do because majority of them are not employed.

“As aged people, we cannot help ourselves except somebody help us and failure for government to provide job for the younger generations is a big challenge to us.

“Those in power should realise that one day they will as well get old and need the help of the younger generations.

“Government should as a matter of urgency address our plight by providing jobs for the youth of the community so that they can adequately meet our needs and as well age gracefully as the future of the community will be bright,” she noted.