Constituency Projects: Ndume, NARICT Support Chibok, Askira, Uba Communities With N160 Million

The Senator representing Borno South Senatorial District, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume has partnered the National Chemical Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Zaria Kaduna State to implement his 2019 Constituency/Zonal Intervention Empowerment Programme for the youth and women of Borno Senatorial District.
Specifically, this round of constituency empowerment project by Senator Ndume goes to the Chibok Local Government and Askira/Uba (ASUBA) Local Government. It is specifically targeted to benefit the youth and women of these communities, including those in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) currently camped in Borno South Senatorial District.
The constituency project is being carried out through two community-based cooperative groups in the local councils, namely, the Abogu Chibok Memorial Cooperative Society and the ASUBA Youth Cooperative Society.
Under the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between NARICT and the two cooperative societies on Wednesday at NARICT, Zaria NARICT would disburse N80 million to each of the cooperative societies whose women and youth members would apply the funds to personal development initiatives, including grants to indigent students of higher learning in Borno State who are from the southern senatorial district.
Director-General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NARICT, Prof. Jeffery T. Barminas signed the MoA alongside while the officials of both cooperative societies signed it on behalf of their groups.
At the signing, Prof. Barminas highlighted areas of possible application of the grants which would lift beneficiaries out of poverty. He listed these to include neem seeds farming, harvesting, processing and the entire neem value chain spectrum. Borno State is reputed to be the largest producer of neem seeds in the country. Prof. Barminas enjoined members of the two cooperative societies to join the National Neem Growers Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria in other to maximise the economic benefits of applying the grants to the neem seeds sector, which include earning prime returns on investment from the insatiable demand for neem seeds-based products and derivatives in both the domestic and international markets.
The DG also identified Borno potential for commercial farming of sunflower seeds as another area which beneficiaries of the disbursement could explore for bountiful rewards from the local and foreign markets in collaboration with NARICT.
Prof. Barminas urged both cooperatives to disburse the grants fairly and transparently as intended by Senator Ndume, stressing that they must keep all records of disbursements and monitor applications in line with extant laws governing constituency projects in the country.