Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has commenced the distribution of N50,000 monthly empowerment grants to 5,800 women across the state’s 44 Local Government Areas as part of his administration’s efforts to reduce poverty and strengthen household livelihoods.
The latest intervention, valued at about N290m for the 5,800 beneficiaries for one month, is being implemented under the Monthly Women’s Empowerment and Poverty Relief Programme introduced by the administration to promote women’s entrepreneurship and improve their economic capacity.
The programme is one of the interventions being implemented under the governor’s Kano First Agenda, with the beneficiaries selected from all 44 LGAs of the state.
Yusuf formally inaugurated the latest phase of the programme on Monday at the Open Arena, Government House, Kano, where he assured beneficiaries that the administration had made adequate financial provisions to sustain the monthly payments through December 2026.
The governor said the selection of beneficiaries was designed to ensure that women from the various local government areas could benefit from the intervention.
“We are going to commence this empowerment programme of 5,800 women who we have selected from all the 44 local government areas of the state,” Yusuf stated.
According to him, committees responsible for the women’s programme at the local government level would commence the distribution of the funds to beneficiaries immediately after the inauguration.
“The members of the committee representing the women programme from the local governments will hand over the empowerment to them by tomorrow after today’s inauguration,” he said.
The governor explained that the intervention was not a one-off empowerment scheme, stressing that his administration had maintained the monthly programme since assuming office.
“You can all recall that we started this monthly empowerment since the inception of this administration,” Yusuf stated.
The governor said the decision to sustain the programme was informed by the need to provide women with regular financial support that could enable them to establish or expand small businesses and contribute to the economic wellbeing of their families.
He further assured beneficiaries that the funding arrangement for the programme had been secured until the end of the year.
“These funds are readily available from now to December without any break or hitch and all beneficiaries will get their empowerment monthly accordingly,” Yusuf said.
The assurance means that the beneficiaries are expected to continue receiving the N50,000 monthly support without interruption through December, subject to the programme’s stated arrangements.
Yusuf urged the beneficiaries not to treat the money merely as household consumption support but to invest it in small businesses capable of generating income beyond the monthly intervention.
“Finally, I will say, you are free to select any micro business of your choice and invest,” the governor added.
He said the flexibility would allow beneficiaries to select businesses suited to their individual circumstances, skills and local markets rather than imposing a single business model on them.
The governor’s emphasis on micro-business investment also reflects the broader objective of the programme, which is to provide women with a financial foundation from which they can gradually improve their livelihoods.
The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Mariya Bunkure, who represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the inauguration, commended the Kano governor for what she described as sustained support for women in the state.
Bunkure described Yusuf as a governor with a “big heart” and urged the beneficiaries to demonstrate appreciation for the intervention by using the funds productively.
She particularly praised the governor’s approach to women’s empowerment, saying the intervention showed that the administration recognised the important role women play in families and communities.
“Governor Yusuf is indeed practically a ‘He for She’, as clearly seen in the way he has been empowering and supporting women throughout his tenure as governor,” she stated.
The minister said women-focused economic programmes could contribute to greater financial independence, particularly by enabling beneficiaries to participate in small-scale businesses and income-generating activities.
She added that economically empowered women were better positioned to support their families and contribute to development within their communities.
The latest empowerment comes against the backdrop of persistent economic pressures facing households, making access to small-scale capital particularly important for women who depend on informal businesses and other livelihood activities.
For many women operating micro-enterprises, relatively small amounts of working capital can be used to purchase goods, replenish stock or start small businesses. The effectiveness of such interventions, however, depends not only on the amount disbursed but also on whether beneficiaries can sustain the businesses after receiving the initial support.
The Kano Government’s decision to structure the intervention as a monthly programme therefore distinguishes it from a single disbursement, as beneficiaries are expected to receive continued support under the current arrangement through December.
The programme also gives local government-level committees a role in the distribution process, placing responsibility for reaching beneficiaries across the state’s 44 LGAs.
The governor’s announcement that the funds were available through December was aimed at reassuring beneficiaries that the intervention would not suffer interruptions during the period covered by the current funding arrangement.
The inauguration was attended by senior government officials, traditional rulers, political leaders and representatives of women from across Kano State.
Among those present were the Kano State Deputy Governor, Murtala Sule Garo; Emir of Gaya, Dr Aliyu Ibrahim Abdulkadir; Minister of State for the FCT, Mariya Bunkure; APC National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatada, who was represented by Hon Muhammad Jambo Yusuf; and Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Jibrin Falgore.
Other government officials, political stakeholders and representatives of women from the 44 Local Government Areas also attended the event.
The presence of representatives from the various LGAs underscored the statewide nature of the intervention and the government’s intention to distribute the programme across the local government structure rather than concentrate the beneficiaries in selected areas.
The empowerment initiative is expected to place 5,800 women on a monthly N50,000 support package, with the stated objective of helping them establish or strengthen micro-businesses and improve household income.
At the current monthly rate, the programme represents N290m in direct monthly support to the 5,800 beneficiaries. If maintained for the four months from September through December, the stated period would amount to N1.16bn in total disbursements to the same number of beneficiaries.
For the beneficiaries, the major challenge will be converting the monthly support into sustainable economic activity capable of continuing beyond the period of government assistance.
For the government, sustained monitoring of the programme, transparent distribution and ensuring that beneficiaries actually receive the funds will be important to achieving the poverty-reduction and livelihood objectives attached to the intervention.
West Trybe reports that women constitute a significant part of Nigeria’s informal and small-scale economic activity, making access to affordable capital an important factor in household livelihood strategies. In Kano, where the government is implementing the intervention across all 44 LGAs, the long-term impact of the programme will depend on how effectively beneficiaries use the funds, the consistency of monthly disbursements and the ability of supported businesses to grow into sustainable sources of income.
