Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has urged women in the state to be confident in themselves, saying a woman can become the governor of the state.
El-Rufai enjoined women not to see themselves only as wives and mothers.
The governor said this at the flag-off of the disbursement of N200 million to Kaduna State Women Empowerment Fund (KADSWEF) in commemoration of the 2022 International Women’s Day.
The event was held at Umar Musa Yar’adua Conference Centre in Kaduna on Tuesday.
The flag off was witnessed by senior government officials, Women Groups and Civil Society Organisations
Speaking, the governor, who commended the efforts and input of women holding appointive positions in Kaduna State Government, advised them to be confident in themselves.
“I want our women in Kaduna to be more confident of themselves. Don’t think that you can only be wives and mothers, you can be commissioners, you can be Head of Service, you can be Attorney General, you can be deputy governor, you can even be governor if you work hard at it,” he said.
El-Rufai further reiterated that the empowerment fund would help to support small traders with capital to grow their businesses, noting that women’s economic empowerment increases the quality of life and society.
The governor said: “Women are the foundation of the society and the APC government of Kaduna State believes in supporting women because when you empower a woman you empower her family and the society.
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“When you give loan to a woman, she pays for her children’s education, feeds her children, and helps her husband. Our women in Kaduna have done very well to make us succeed.”
El-Rufai added that the Commissioner of Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed Baba, initiated KADSWEF because “women traders need small amount of capital to increase the sales and their businesses, and she said let us do something special for women.”
He noted that the commissioner further told him that “women are afraid of going to the bank to borrow, they are not given the chance. Let’s do something just for women and I said, bring it to the Executive Council.”
The governor recalled that Hafsat requested for N100 million but the state government increased it to N200 million, adding: “We have been consistently doing it since 2019, is only in 2020 that we did not do it due to the Covid-19 lockdown.”
El-Rufai further explained that the government changed the name of Ministry of Women Affairs to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Development “because there is no humanity without a woman”.
“Women are the basis of humanity, women are the root of humanity and when the quality of the lives of women is improved the quality of society improves,” he added.
He equally praised all members of the State Executive Council for working hard and consistently supporting every prorgamme that will empower the less privileged in the state.
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