Katsina Empowers 1,000 Adolescent Girls With Skills, Starter Kits 

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The Katsina State Government has distributed empowerment kits to 1,000 trained adolescent girls across the state, as part of efforts to promote self-reliance, reduce unemployment and stimulate grassroots economic growth.

The beneficiaries, drawn from nine skill acquisition training centres, were trained in various vocational and entrepreneurial skills including tailoring, ICT, shoe and leather works, dyeing, cosmetology and agribusiness value chains.

Held at the Continental Event Centre, the graduation and distribution of the empowerment kits was championed by the state’s Department of Girl Child Education and Child Development headed by Hajiya Jamila Abdu Mani.

Speaking at the ceremonial graduation and distribution of the empowerment kits to the trainees Monday, Governor Dikko Umaru Radda said the initiative aligns with his administration’s commitment to human capital development and economic growth.

He explained that equipping young trainees, especially girls, with start-up tools would enable them to translate acquired entrepreneurial skills into sustainable livelihoods and economic resilience.

“When you educate and empower the girl-child, you empower the entire society. Our government remains committed to ensuring that every girl in Katsina State has the opportunity to learn, grow and realise her full potential,” the governor said.

He announced plans by the state government to empower over 14,000 women across the 34 local government areas of the state in the next phase of its empowerment programme.

He said women constitute a vital segment of the society whose contributions to family stability, economic productivity and community development cannot be overlooked.

Radda, however, urged the beneficiaries to make effective use of the kits, stressing that government would continue to support youth and women through training, access to finance and market linkage

In her opening remarks, the Special Adviser to Governor Radda on Girl Child Education and Child Development, Jamila Abdu Mani, warned against selling the items, describing such action as a betrayal of the programme’s objectives.

She urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the start-up tools, adding that the empowerment was part of a broader strategy aimed at poverty reduction, youth engagement and economic diversification.