No fewer than 4,000 persons in Borno were engaged into community based development activities under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Program (SURE-P), in 2013.
The state SURE-P Coordinator, Malam Wakil Kalanga, stated this in an interview with journalists in Maiduguri on Tuesday.
His also said that the participants were being empowered under the Community Services, Women and Youths Employment (CSWYE), project of the SURE-P.
Kalanga said that the beneficiaries drawn from the 27 local government of the state including youths, women and the vulnerable groups selected by the community leaders in their various localities.
He added that the beneficiaries have been exposed to community based services like environmental sanitation and beautification, facilities maintenance, community security as well as many other socio-economic service needs of their communities with a view to improve the living standard of the people.
Others services provided by the beneficiaries include teaching, in primary and secondary schools, while some of them were exposed to different skills acquisition like carpentry, painting, plumbing, inter-locks making among others.
“Some of them were also engaged in planting of trees, maintaining of green parks and planting of trees,” he said.
He explained further that N 10,000 was given to each of the beneficiaries as monthly stipend for complete 5-hour work period per day which is disbursed to them through their individual bank accounts.
Kalanga said that the gesture was to provide economic benefits to youths, women and the vulnerable that would instilled participation in national development as well as motivate them to rekindle trust in government policies, programmes and project.
The Coordinator said the programme was however financed from the proceeds of the partial removal of subsidy from petroleum products which is designed to tackle unemployment and improve the countries infrastructures.
He noted that the aim of the project was to make significant impact in the quality of socio- economic environment in rural communities where the beneficiaries reside due to the services they delivered.
Blueprint recalls that the scheme was designed to provide temporary employment opportunities in community services for up to 185,000 unemployed and unskilled Nigeria women and youths from all the state of the federation.
