Widows created by the Boko Haram insurgency in Yobe have commended an NGO, Female Role Model Initiative, for engaging them in skills acquisition programmes. The beneficiaries told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu on Sunday that the training programme would enable them earn a living.

“ The skills acquisition programme has provided us with a means of self-employment to boost our economic empowerment, “ Aisa Modu, a widow and mother of three, said. “ Initially, I had rested my hope and future on street begging but this training has rekindled our hope of a dignified future away from street begging,’’ she said. Falmata Bukar, a mother of five, said the activities of the insurgents had left her as the head of the family with no means of making a living.

“I am now the head of the family and this programme has given me a dignified means of taking care of the family away from street begging,“ she said. Hauwa Kaka, another beneficiary who was trained on groundnut oil production, said the trade would assist her and her dependants to be productively engaged.

The Coordinator of the initiative, Hajiya Halimatu Laminu, told NAN that the widows had been undergoing various skills acquisition programmes to give them a new lease of life. “We are conscious of the hardship the widows are passing through and their plight in future.

“ We therefore, selected 50 widows in Damaturu and another 50 in Fika for the training. “The training includes poultry farming and animal husbandry, soap, cream and detergent making, tailoring, local food seasoning cubes (Dawa-Dawa) production and ground nut oil production,’’ she said. Laminu said the widows would be provided with take-off materials to commence their trades.

“We have put in place a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the beneficiaries do not sell the take-off resettlement materials, “ she said. The coordinator said nursing mothers were also trained on preparation of food supplements for malnourished children. She also said the NGO had concluded arrangements to sponsor 100 orphans in Damaturu and Fika in order to access education.