Talakawa Summit: How Jigawa alleviates poverty among low income earners

The Talakawa Summit was launched on October 18, 2008 with a view to alleviating poverty among low income earners including the local traders and craftsmen in the state. Recently the Lamido-led administration has disbursed some money as   capital to the citizens of the state under the   project. Pyramid Trust gathered that, before the commencement of […]

The Talakawa Summit was launched on October 18, 2008 with a view to alleviating poverty among low income earners including the local traders and craftsmen in the state.

Recently the Lamido-led administration has disbursed some money as   capital to the citizens of the state under the   project.

Pyramid Trust gathered that, before the commencement of disbursement exercise, about 500 local birth attendants popularly known as (Ungozoma) in Hausa language were trained on simple hygiene and were given working facilities with a view to improving their business.

The exercise, Pyramid Trust learnt was also part of the administration policies of reducing the rate of maternal mortality rates in the state. They were given gloves and modern equipments to enable them conduct their business within the tenet of the global trend.  

It was gathered that, N30 million out of the total sum would be shared among the medium traders as soft loans, which they were expected to pay back in 15 months time.

It was also gathered that beneficiaries were drawn from all the 27 local governments of the state and the money was channelled to them through the community banks in their respective domains.

The programme, which is under the office of the state Commissioner for Rural Infrastructure, Alhaji Abdulkadir Jinjiri Dutse is expected to share the loans among 194 medium traders in the state. They are to receive a sum of N30,000 each.

Launching the programme in Babura Local Government, the state commissioner for Rural Infrastructure, Alhaji Abdulkadir Jinjiri Dutse, said government was ready to double the amount given to each beneficiary that utilised the capital judiciously and also pay back to the government on time.

The aim of the soft loan, he pointed out, was to encourage citizens of the state to become self reliant, adding that, the programme would apart from alleviating poverty among people, also reduce redundancy among youth in the state.   

The N107 million, Pyramid Trust learnt was to be shared among various categories of small traders as well as traditional craftsmen with vulcanisers taking the lion share of N100,000 per person.    

It was further learnt that over 10,000 low income earners were expected to benefit from the monetary gift that aimed at alleviating poverty among  the populace of the state under the project Talakawa Summit.

A total of about 28 traditional trades and crafts including kolanut sellers, beans cake sellers (kosai), local tea sellers, local hair plaiters, (mai kitso)laundry men, truck cart pushers and vulcaniser as well as  fura da nono sellers were identified by the 19 screening committees as those to be benefitting from the programme.

Pyramid Trust gathered that, craftsmen and trades, were categorised and would receive different amount depending on the capital needed by each trade or craft. While vulcanisers will collect the highest grant of N100,000 each, butchers and weavers are to collect N20,000 each and cart truck pushers, food sellers and beans cake sellers are to get  N10,000 each ,and  the least are shoe shiners, mai kitso, oil millers, which enjoy a capital of N5,000 each.

Flagging off this segment of the programme recently in Dutse, the state capital, Governor Sule Lamido explained that in each of the 27 local governments about 350 people mostly low income earners and petty traders would benefit from the scheme.

Lamido, said, the grants was purely meant for the re capitalisation of the individual businesses and no government employee should participate as it was solely for the Talakawa.

The Governor, who was represented by the state commissioner for Commerce and Tourism, Alhaji Mukhtari Muhammad, disclosed that in the first batch of the exercise government spent the sum of about N107 million.

The Governor warned that under no circumstances any of the beneficiaries should divert the money given to him for any use other than the intended project, stressing that the idea was to empower them economically with a view to boosting their businesses.

He noted that, government had put in an effective mechanism with a view to ensuring that they made judicial use of the grants extended to them.