KATSINA: EMPOWERING THE YOUTH

By Hajiya Bilkisu (mni)

The weather was cold and the harmatan wind blew the dust
slightly in our faces as we made the turn into the office of
the Department of Resource Development in the heart of
Katsina city. The group comprised Dr Halima Adamu, the
first female medical doctor in Northern Nigeria, now a
Board member of the Katsina Education Trust Fund
Gidauniyar Katsina, and also the Katsina State Focal
Consultant for AdvocacyNigeria a movement working on
reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality, Alhaji Sada
Mashi, a journalist and a former President of the Katsina
State Chapter of Nigeria Union of Journalists, now a
proprietor of a printing and public relations firm and his
colleague and Principal Partner, Alhaji Garba Gida. We
were visiting the office to meet the officer in charge of a
youth empowerment programme the government was
implementing. The office was wearing a new coat of paint
which gave the building a new look and lighted the
environment. Dr. Halima Adamu who knows the area quite
well asked Alhaji Sada Mashi if it was the building that
used to house the Local Government Service Commission.
He answered in the affirmative and explained that the
Resource Development office now shares it with Small and
Medium Enterprises Development Agency SMEDAN. He
told her that the rehabilitated building was a reflection of
things to come.
When Alhaji Sada invited me to come and see what the
Katsina state government was doing in the youth
empowerment sector, he was reticent about it and kept his
cards to his chest. He kept saying ki zo kigani akwai haske
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a faninin taimakon matasa meaning come and see there is

a light at the end of the tunnel of the youth empowerment
sector. Both Dr. Halima and I are interested in youth
empowerment projects. She serves on the board of a
Kaduna based NGO, the Council for the Rehabilitation of
Destitutes and their area of focus is the rehabilitation of
almajirai, pupils of makarantar allo the Traditional
Quranic School TQS and reformation of the almajirci
system that supports it. On my part I am a trustee and
founding member of Vision Trust Foundation VTF where
we are implementing a Youth Empowerment Sponsorship
Scheme YESS and building an almajirci model school in
Rigasa, Kaduna. So for both of us it was a study tour and
our curiosity and expectations were raised.
We were ushered into a moderately furnished and spacious
office and the occupant welcomed us and introduced
himself as Engineer Musa Nashuni, the Special Assistant to
the Katsina State Government on Resource Development.
A former mining engineer at the Federal Government
owned Mining Corporation of Nigeria in Jos, Engineer
Nashuni has twenty years of mining experience. On
retirement, he became a consultant in his field.
The project was the product of the State Governor,
Alhaji Ibrahim Shema who said youth empowerment was
part of my campaign promise and I consider capacity
building as critical to the success of any government. I
consider education; agriculture, development of the solid
mineral sector of course healthcare, housing etc are
inclusive .He mentioned the sixteen areas that his
government is focusing on in its development of cottage
industries. His dream is to produce a better educated
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community, he dreams of looking back to see that the

infrastructure required for the development of the state are
in place.
Governor Shema said he would be happy and feel fullfiled
if and when performance of government impacts on the life
of all citizens. To ensure that this happens, he said the state
has made a provision to provide interest free credit to the
citizens. For those who demonstrate credit worthiness and
pay, they are given additional facilities if required.
In the political field Governor Shema said he is fighting the
siege mentality in politics and promoting consultation and
consensus building. For the forthcoming local government
elections, he has suggested that all aspiring candidates and
stakeholders should meet and agree on the best candidate to
be fielded by his party the PDP.
He said this initiative has brought hitherto estranged
politicians and together at community meetings to discuss
what is best for their communities.
Engineer Musa said he was implementing the project
because he shared Governor Shemas vision for the state
particularly the youth empowerment component which he
is equipped to help implement .
The aim of the project his department is implementing
is to empower the youth by providing them with skills and
facilities to live a sustainable life. The project is focused on
increasing the productive capacity of the youth through
manufacturing of paints and chalk. It has three
components.
Identification of unemployed youths in a
participatory manner
Provision of skills to the beneficiaries
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 Provision of credit facilities for procurement of

materials and equipment
In his briefing, the Engineer provided the following
Information: that the choice of products to be produced was
based on needs assessment and sustainability of the
venture. The project was designed as a pilot project to be
implemented in sixteen states to tap the natural resources
that are available in the state. Kaolin, which is the major
ingredient for the production of chalk and paint. As for
consumer demand for the products, chalk is used in all the
schools in the state and every construction project would
require paints for aesthetics. Kaolin is abundantly available
in all the local governments of Katsina state and this is
being tapped for many industrial uses from pharmaceutical
to cosmetics and varied uses. There are already requests for
the high grade kaolin produced in the state so there are
potentials for export.
The Engineer explained the selection process for the
beneficiaries which is grassroots focused. Community
Development Committee CDC were established in all the
Local Government Areas LGAs. Each CDC will meet and
nominate one person from each ward within the LGAs to
be engaged for paint making and chalk production.
These youths are given skills in the production of products
and are supported with money to procure raw materials and
equipment. By the end of 2007, eleven paint and seven
chalk production plants had been established in sixteen
LGAs across three Senatorial zones. The beneficiaries are
the owners of the projects and the Local Governments
support them by providing production centers for
manufacturing before the beneficiaries go full scale and
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establish on their own. The production equipment use

appropriate technology and had rural compliance. For paint
production, a drum is used to place the kaolin and the
additives and a metal whisk is used to mix it and the
finished product is packaged in plastic containers. Five
cans of five liter paint is produced in thirty minutes. The
paint producers are currently producing emulsion paints
which is water based but have plans to embark on
production of gloss paint which is oil based. Each twenty
litre can of paint is sold for two thousand and four hundred
naira but on the open market they are sold at two thousand
eight hundred naira.
For chalk production, a manual machine is used for rolling
the chalk paste made from kaolin and oil lubricant and the
moulded chalk is then sun dried and packaged in cartons.
On marketing the finished products, the project designers
want to retain equilibrium between producers, dealers and
retailers; they therefore want regular marketers of paints
and chalk to also be the dealers of their own products.
However, to support the youth, the state government has
directed all those who are executing government projects to
use made in Katsina paints and all schools are also to use
made in Katsina chalk. We went on a visit to two paint and
chalk production plants, two in Katsina city and a paint
factory in Mashi community and were amazed at the small
space required for production of the two products.
The government, according to Engineer Musa plans to
expand its youth empowerment projects to provide
additional employment to youth and meet the peoples
needs. Gravel production and fertilizer blending plants are
to be established soon. The basic material for fertiliser is
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kaolin which is readily available in Katsina. We also visited

a Youth Empowerment Centre with huge infrastructure and
workshop being allocated to all youth empowerment
projects in the state. The Centre has identified sixteen areas
for development of youth vocational training. They include
plumbing, agro allied trades, fashion design, capentary and
woodwork, fashion design, metal works, fabrication and
welding, ceramic and pottery, auto-mechanic, shoe and
leather works, computer repair and GSM repair, air
conditioning and refrigeration and each had workshops and
offices provided.
We talked to the beneficiaries of the project at the paint
production plant in Mashi. Abdul Samad Shuaibu Randa is
ecstatic about it. It is a source of empowerment for us and
beneficial to our communities. We hope to reap immense
benefits from this initiative.
As we were returning to Katsina from Mashi, Alhaji Sada
requested us to visit his Chairman and partner in their
consultancy firm, Alhaji M B Yusuf who is also the
Chairman of the Local Government Service Board. The
Chairman invited his Resident Commissioners and we
exchanged pleasantries. He said as citizens of Katsina state,
they believed that other states could learn from some of the
useful projects being implemented in the state hence their
invitation to publicists to spread the word about their vision
for the youth. After our visits to the project centres Doctor
Halima kept saying I wish we had started these
empowerment projects earlier and we wont be where we
are now. Our visits went beyond the youth empowerment
projects; I went to the House of Assembly with other NGO
workers in Katsina on an advocacy visit to the legislators
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on promoting free maternal healthcare for the state. Alhaji

Sada had also arranged for me to visit the new Katsina
State University and interact with the female students and
motivate them.
I was delighted with the visits and the report of these
interactions will form the topic of our discourse in this
column next week.