By Najib Sani
Bauchi
Founder of an NGO, Sun of Hope Foundation, and wife of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Mrs. Gimbiya Yakubu Dogara, has distributed highbred rice seeds and other farm inputs to 3,300 women for this year’s farming season.
Speaking while distributing the items to the beneficiaries in Tafawa Balewa LGA of Bauchi state, Mrs. Dogara said this was the first time she had given an intervention that focused on women alone, adding that the choice of agricultural inputs was carefully considered, “especially looking at the agrarian nature of the women in the area.”
She also said the choice of women as beneficiaries was deliberate “because if you empower women, I have no doubt that poverty will reduce because we are very good managers of resources.”
“This rice has chemicals and it is not meant to be taken as food please,” she said.
Earlier, in her welcome address, the coordinator of the Foundation, Mrs. Sarah D. Kefas, said the Foundation was the “childhood dream of Gimbiya Dogara that has come to fruition with what we are witnessing today.”
Commending Mrs. Dogara for her efforts in bringing succour to the women folks, especially in the rural areas, Mrs. Kefas thanked all that graced the occasion, adding that “we are very humbled by your presence here today and we wish you safe journey back to your respective destinations.”
Also speaking, the National Women Leader of the APC, Mrs. Ramatu Tijani, who was represented by the North East APC Women Leader, Mrs. Fatima Danjuma, said women constituted the largest portion of the electorate that “come out to vote, but in most cases they are forgotten after elections.”