Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
Young widows of fallen soldiers, as well as youths and vulnerable groups in the barracks, could be empowered through a partnership with the Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association (NAOWA), according to Ms. Sadiya Umar Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development.
When Mrs. Salamatu Farouk Yahaya, wife of the chief of army staff and national president of NAOWA, led association members to pay her a courtesy visit in Abuja over the weekend, Farouq let them know.
She exhorted NAOWA to utilize the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP), secure interest-free loans for young widows to launch small companies, and sign up youths in the barracks for the N-Power and N-Skills programs.
She added that students who are eligible for the National Home Grown School Feeding Program could enroll in the NAOWA Children’s Schools to take advantage of the program.
Additionally, Farouq pledged to work with NAOWA on additional humanitarian projects.
The delegation’s leader and NAOWA President, Mrs. Salamatu F. Yahaya, had earlier mentioned potential areas of cooperation with the ministry, including helping the underprivileged in the barracks, particularly widows, youth, and children through empowerment programs, sponsorships, donations, and trainings.
Yahaya claimed that because of the recent natural and man-made calamities the nation is currently experiencing, NAOWA’s target beneficiaries have grown quickly, making it more challenging for the organization to carry out its humanitarian goals.
She also indicated interest in collaborating on projects, running cooperative humanitarian programs to empower and teach underprivileged people, donate needed supplies to hospitals, and distribute emergency aid.
