A renowned Katsina state philanthropist, Alhaji Umar Abdullahi (TATA), has for the second time assisted 3, 583 widows and less privileged ones selected from the 11 local governments areas in Funtua zone with working capital under his economic empowerment initiative.
Tata said the widows were carefully selected from the benefitting communities while each widow would benefit from the assistance through raffle draws.
According to him, the working capital to be given to the benefiting widows include, 10 buses, 20 tricycles, 144 drums of kerosene, 72 motorcycles, 144 refrigerators, 1020 sewing machines.
The rest, he said included, 227 knitting, 72 gallons of groundnut oil, 1, 200 bags of flours, 200 bags of beans, 260 grinding machines, amongst other items, shared for the widows.
Tata added that he embarked on the venture as a means of assisting “these vulnerable widows to be self-reliant and stop depending on individuals while catering for orphans left under their care.”
He said: “We’ve been doing this exercise across the state. We did similar exercise in Malumfashi and Daura towns were we assisted over 2,500 widows last year. “We promise to continue supporting the widows and other vulnerable groups in the state.”
In separate remarks, a former deputy governor, Ambassador Abdullahi Garba Aminchi, and leader Jama’atu Izalatul Bid’a Wa’qamatus Sunnah, Katsina state chapter, Sheikh Yakubu Musa Hassan, decried the situation of widows and orphans in the society.
They similarly lambasted government, at all levels, for not doing enough to support “these vulnerable groups in the society.”
