The Birniwa local council of Jigawa has empowered 88 women in the area with 264 goats.

Fahad Muhammad, the council’s spokesman, said this in a statement.

Mr Muhammad said Governor Umar Namadi launched the distribution exercise in Birniwa on Monday.

He explained that the governor lauded the council chairman, Mallam Shehu, for emulating his administration’s Goat Rearing Scheme. The governor said that his administration had conducted various empowerment programmes that supported the teeming youth and women groups across the state.

Mr Namadi noted that the programmes had improved the residents’ living standards.

“My administration has introduced rice cultivation programmes on 100 hectares of land in the state’s 27 local government areas. Under this scheme, several youths in each council area have been engaged to produce the rice.

“Furthermore, my administration, through the ministry of agriculture, is committed to providing adequate and subsidised farming inputs to farmers in the state,” the governor said.

In his remarks, the council chairman, Mr Shehu, said a total of 264 goats were distributed to 88 women selected from the 11 wards of the area.

While urging the beneficiaries to take good care of the goats to enhance their economic well-being, the chairman also thanked the governor for his approval of the programme.

Mr Shehu further thanked the governor for approving his other programmes to empower women groups in the area.

Earlier, the council’s head of the agriculture department, Muhammed Aminu, said each of the beneficiaries would receive two she-goat and one he-goat to rear.

Mr Aminu added that the council had arranged for a team of mobile veterinary workers to supervise the goats’ care and keep them healthy.

Some of the beneficiaries, Dija Aminu and Alhajeti Umaru thanked the council for the gesture and promised to take care of the goats.

(NAN)