Not less than 150 divorced women in different communities of Shira Local Government area of Bauchi State with no means of economic sustenance and skill have benefited from an empowerment programme to support their families members.
- One of the beneficiaries, a 60-year-old woman who has been divorced for about 10 years, Ramatu Ibrahim said that “in all my life, I have never operated an account nor Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card. I have no business other than farming but now we have taught different aspects of business and how to manage a business within our communities.”
Ramatu said she was part of a project introduced by Better Life Restoration Initiative where divorcees were trained on literacy, numeracy, life skills, and livelihood training. She added that economic hardship has thrown many of divorced women into shameful practices and begging. “Many of us now have ideas on what to do, how to do it and equipment to do it,” she said.
While speaking at the distribution of the items in Shira on Thursday, the team lead, Better Life Restoration Initiative, Mr. Ogadinma Nkem Ogbonnaya, said that the Initiative which was supported by Development Exchange Centre (DEC) provided financial inclusion to the women by facilitating their Bank Verification Number BVN enrolment, NIN registration, opening of bank accounts and ATM cards.
He said the Initiative had trained them on groundnut oil production, pomade production, Popcorn making and local hand fan. “We have trained them on saving scheme within the communities, also we have given some beneficiaries Point of Sale (PoS) machines and established 3 Savings Internal Lending Communities (SILC) groups,” he added.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Shira, represented by his Deputy, Adamu Usman said that the stakeholders would be supporting initiatives that are benefiting to the development of their people. He commended the Initiative for selecting Shira as the benefiting council among the 20 LGAs in the State.
