As part of efforts to empower women and discourage continuous substance abuse among Nigerian youths while ensuring that rehabilitated substance addicts are gainfully engaged, the National Agriculture Land Development Authority (NALDA) has empowered 500 rehabilitated drug addicts with livestock in Kano state North West Nigeria.
The Authority working in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Salamah Youth Empowerment and Enlightenment Initiative gave out cattle and goats to 300 men and women on at the Central Abattoir, Kofarmazugal, Kano.
The beneficiaries that got one cow each for the men and three goats each for the women would also be trained on Animal husbandry and financial capacity to enhance their ability to manage the business.
Speaking during the presentation ceremony, NALDA’s Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Paul Ikonne, explained that the first phase of the programme in Kano State will witness 500 rehabilitated youth and rural women being empowered.
On what makes the Kano empowerment different from the Authority’s other empowerment programmes across the country Prince Ikonne said it is the peculiarity of the targeted beneficiaries
“An organisation that has been rehabilitating children from drug is organizing them for empowerment, if they are left without empowerment, they would go back to drug taking. And it is President Muhammadu Buhari’s interest to ensure that we reduce drug addiction and create employment in the country. So, this is a way of keeping them away from drugs and engaging them meaningfully”
While breaking down the numbers, Ikonne said so far 300 youths have been empowered while the remaining 200 will be done in the first phase in Kano by March.
He said “This will be done in different states, and we want to encourage other organisations to reach out to these drug addicts in order to rehabilitate them and NALDA will engage them in meaningful means of income through agricultural value chains”
On supervision of the empowered men and women, he noted that since they are registered with the organisation, it makes it easier for monitoring.
The initiator of Salamah Youth Empowerment and Enlightenment Initiative, Senator Naja’tu Muhammed representing Kano Central Senatorial District, while commending NALDA’s intervention said the intervention is the best any government institution have ever done in Kano.
According to her, it is not enough to only rehabilitate substance abusers but also pertinent to give them a means of livelihood.
While commending NALDA’s efforts she said “They underwent training after which I empowered them with the little fund we have, but thank God that the President has finally see into this by introducing us to NALDA. I must say that NALDA as far as people of Kano are concerned is the best parastatal in the country; we have never seen any parastatal in Nigeria with such direct impact on the masses”
The NDLEA commandant in Kano, Alhaji Isah Mahammed, while also commending NALDA for the initiative said it has been discovered that youth idleness is one of the major causes of drug abuse.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Alima, Adamu, who spoke in Hausa appreciated NALDA and the foundation for the initiative, saying with the cow, he can now enjoy a new lease of financial life.
He however called for more organisations to emulate the gesture as more youths need such empowerment to enable them earn a living and discard drug abuse.
