Three Years On: Governor Bago Sustain Women’s Representation In Governance, Champions Youth, Women Empowerment

Niger State Governor, Farmer Umaru Mohammed Bago says his administration has implemented several strategic initiatives aimed at youth and women empowerment, focusing on economic self-reliance, inclusive governance, and capacity building.

Speaking on his third year anniversary, Farmer Governor Bago disclosed that, since assumption of office in 2023, the state government has advanced affirmative action by ensuring that women hold prominent administrative and political positions.

The Farmer Governor, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Malam Bologi Ibrahim noted that all 25 Local Government Councils in the State have female Vice Chairpersons while qualified women have also been appointed to strategic leadership positions, including Commissioners, Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, Coordinators and Executive Boards.

He revealed that his administration, in collaboration with the World Bank initiative, has empowered over 72,000 women organized through cooperatives, adding that the project focuses on financial independence, providing access to finance and markets, and scaling up agricultural processing such as rice processing, vegetable oil, palm oil, and Shea butter production.

Farmer Umaru Mohammed Bago stated his government has routinely distributed business grants, cash gifts, deep freezers, sewing machines, and grinding machines to women micro and small-scale entrepreneurs across the state’s 25 local government areas to boost economic self-sufficiency.

On Youth Empowerment and Skill Acquisition, the Governor said the administration is partnering with federal legislators, state lawmakers, and development agencies, achieving constituency-based youth empowerment by providing large-scale financial disbursements and starter packs to hundreds of youths to foster entrepreneurship, reduce youth unemployment and restiveness.

He also disclosed that many young men and women are being actively integrated into commercial agriculture, agribusiness value chains, and mechanized farming through the government large-scale agricultural programmes to drive wealth creation.

“My administration has continually supported youths through educational resource distribution, skills acquisition training through bodies like the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), and is  sponsoring professional and academic certification examinations such as WAEC and NECO to enhance employability”, he stated.

The Governor said over 10,000 women and youth entrepreneurs across the state have benefitted from the NG-CARES intervention while 4,076 indigent students studying across various institutions in the country have also benefitted from the Bago Young Students Entrepreneurship initiative.

In addition, he said 500 widows engaged in entrepreneurship have also received targeted support under the programme, while over 2000 Youth Corp Members serving in the state benefitted from entrepreneurship and livelihood-related interventions.

The Farmer Governor stated that his administration’s initiative to invest in human capital, particularly in women and youth empowerment, is deliberate and in consonance with the New Niger Agenda, acknowledging that the overall progress and development of the state lies heavily in the upliftment of the living standards of women and youths.