Taiwo Olawale
12 August 2008
Dutse — The Jigawa State Government has concluded arrangement to train about 5,000 unemployed youths in horse ornaments making and calligraphy; in an effort to empower its citizens by creating job opportunities.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Guidance, Counselling and Poverty Alleviation, Alhaji Yusuf Hassan who announced this in an interview in Dutse, said the project is designed to explore individual creativity as another means of breaking the cycle of poverty in the state.
Hassan also explained that the horse ornament and calligraphy market has been the exclusive preserve of Arab and Middle East countries for a long time; stressing that it is a multi million dollar market that would fetch the trainees and the State millions of Naira.
He disclosed that the materials for the horse ornaments would be sourced from Niger Republic, pointing out that the government has commenced semi-formal talks with Niger on the materials as well as expertise for the take off of the project.
He said, "materials would be sourced from Niger Republic. Efforts aimed at co-opting Nigerien expertise are ongoing though at medium level to ensure the smooth take off of the project."
The horse ornaments and calligraphy market currently the exclusive preserve of Middle East countries, is mostly patronised by the traditional institution and wealthy individuals in and around the country.
By investing in it, the government hopes to become a major player in the market in the near future. On the other hand, calligraphy, which also has great potentials, is loved by many art collectors.
The 5,000 youths that would participate in the pilot training are to be drawn from the 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the State. At the end of their training, the government is to assist them with initial take-off capital to make them self-sufficient.
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