Vice Chairman of Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman representing Kogi Central on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has announced the release of twenty million naira as a start-up fund for The Umajene Abatemi Initiative (TUAI).
The senator made the announcement at the formal inauguration of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of TUAI, a community-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), he initiated to execute valuable projects that will have beneficial effects on the lives of the people of his constituency.
A statement issued by Michael Jegede, his Special Assistant (SA) on Media matters at the end of the event, which took place in the National Assembly Abuja quoted the Senator as saying that he cannot afford to disappoint the people who gave him the opportunity to serve them.
“I want to thank all of you for accepting to be part of this team meant to drive the scheme that we have designed to positively change the face of Ebira land and bring succour to our people. We know that the problems in our land are numerous and the challenges are enormous. But we would do our best not to let our people down. I hereby announced the sum of twenty million naira as a start-up capital for TUAI. If this money is properly applied, no doubt, it will attract more from the initiator and donors within and outside the country,” Abatemi-Usman, a member of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) said.
In a PowerPoint presentation of the blueprint of TUAI to the board members by the Executive Secretary (ES), Hauwa Ismail, she noted that the Imitative is an important milestone in the effort of the Senator to economically empower the people. According to her, the primary objective of the NGO is to create wealth by stimulating appropriate economic activities in the various wards of each Local Government Area in Kogi Central.
Chairman of the organisation’s BoT, Stephen Yakubu, a former Secretary to Kogi State Government, expressed delight over the decision of the Senator to come up with the Initiative as a way of making positive impact on the lives of Ebira people.