Masari to tackle political thuggery, empower youths in Kastina State

Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State has promised to address the rising cases of political thuggery among youths in the state, by empowering them through skill acquisition programmes.

Masari made the promise at the N50 million fund raising event for the building of the secretariat of the state chapter of the Tricycle and Motorcycle Sellers Association on Thursday in Katsina.

“Many able bodied men are wasting their energies by serving as thugs to politicians in the state,’’ he said.

He said that his administration would strengthen the existing skill acquisition centres in the state to enable them to provide basic training for youths so that they could be self-reliant.

“We have five skill acquisition centres belonging to the state government and additional five set up by individuals across the three senatorial zones in the state.

“We also have seven basic artisans training centres which provide training for youths in different areas like carpentry, electrical appliance training, plumbing among others,’’ Masari said.

The governor appealed to the youths to take advantage of the centres by enrolling in the different training programmes.

He also advised them to establish cooperative societies to enable them to secure soft loans from the Kastina State Department of Poverty Alleviation Programme (KASDPAP).

Earlier, the Chairman of the association, Alhaji Muhammad Auwal, commended the state government for donating a plot of land for the building of the association’s secretariat.