BUA Cement Company on Thursday distributed farming inputs and other empowerment tools to 1,500 persons in the resettled communities affected by the company’s activities in Sokoto State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the initiative is part of the development roadmap expected in the company’s programmes under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to host communities in the state.
The BUA Managing Director, Mr Yusuf Binji, who led the presentation to the beneficiaries, noting that about N400 million was spent on the initiative.
He said the initiative covered training, business development, inputs, and business working tools distribution, among others.
Binji, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Administration and Corporate Affairs, Mr Sada Suleiman, said the efforts were aimed at empowering the resettled communities on modern farming and other business opportunities to uplift their living standard.
“BUA Cement Company initiated a resettlement and sustainable livelihood restoration programme to uplift citizens’ lives through various programmes,” he said.
The measures were in line with the company’s corporate social responsibility to host communities, as outlined in a signed five-year document guiding its community development initiatives in the state.
“At present, 300 farmers have benefited from bags of fertiliser, improved seedlings, and other chemicals for dry season farming,” he said.
He highlighted the CSR projects to include healthcare support to hospitals, students’ scholarship scheme, vocational training programme, and educational infrastructure development support.
Other initiatives, according to him, include the establishment of a technical college, electricity installation support, provision of potable water, and construction of numerous road projects across the communities.
Binji added that the company had also reached an agreement on patronising eligible indigenous contractors from the host communities and provided employment opportunities for indigenes during the recruitment exercise.
He said the annual distribution of bags of cement for the repair of public places across the communities remained mandatory based on the agreement.
Mr Ali Gumel, the Assistant Director, Health, Environmental and Community Services, said the chain of activities would continue toward supporting the people displaced by the company’s operations at various locations.
Gumel said the initiatives included providing alternative farmlands, training on modern agricultural practices, inputs for increased yields, skills acquisition programmes, and business development opportunities.
In his address, the Chairman of Wamakko Local Government Area, Alhaji Umar Dundaye, expressed gratitude for the intervention, calling it a strategic initiative that would improve farming activities.
Dundaye commended BUA for enhancing access to potable water, education, and healthcare services, which he said, would surely ease the burden on families.
The Special Adviser to Gov. Ahmad Aliyu on Corporate Services, Alhaji Usman Arzika, expressed appreciation for the gesture, describing it as timely, and enjoined beneficiaries to ensure proper use of the items.
Responding on behalf of the benefiting communities, some farmers, Dahiru Abubakar and Zahradeen Buhari from Gidan Bailu community, expressed appreciation for the support and assured that they would invest more in their farming activities.
