News Editor
Sen. Istifanus Gyang (PDP-Plateau) has supported 500 widows and 600 indigent students in his senatorial district with cash to enable them start businesses of their choice.
Gyang, representing Plateau North Senatorial District, presented the cash to the beneficiaries on Monday in Jos, stressing that the gesture was aimed at cushioning the hardship being passed through by members of the two groups.
He added that the gesture was borne out of his personal experience in life, particularly when he lost his father and later, his mother.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while the widows were given N20,000 each, the indigent students went home with N10, 000 each.
He further explained that the gesture was to enable the two categories of people become self-reliant and economically-independent.
“Today, we are giving 511 widows N20,000 each to start petty trading and for those who are in it already, to use it to further enhance their businesses.
“The indigent students will have N10, 000 each to support their academic pursuits.
“This is a special intervention. These two categories of people are special, considering what my mother went through as a widow and what I later went through as an orphan.
“It is not just any kind of intervention but a product of my personal experience in life and to me, these two groups of people deserve attention, even more than what I have done,” he said.
Gyang promised to continue to initiate programmes that would provide succour to widows and orphans in his senatorial district.
He called on the students to shun examination malpractices, cultism, drug abuse, thuggery and other forms of vices in order to contribute their own quota toward the growth of the society.
Speaking at the event, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, a former Minister of Water Resources and Rural Development, commended the lawmaker for the gesture.
She said that the gesture was a true reflection of the biblical injunction, urging the lawmaker to do more for the greater good of humanity.
The former minister urged the beneficiaries to invest the cash in order to become economically-independent. (
(NAN)
