By Musa Ubandawaki, Sokoto

SOKOTO – In a bid to tackle child street begging and youth unemployment, the Bafarawa Giving Back Initiative has pledged N50 million to rehabilitate and empower vulnerable children across Sokoto State.

The programme, spearheaded by former Governor Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, targets children often seen on the streets under the guise of Islamic learning, a practice that has become a growing national concern.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, the Chairman of the initiative, Malam Lawal Maidoki, said the intervention is designed to address deep-rooted social problems through education, vocational skills, and dignity.

Maidoki recalled that early last year, Alhaji Bafarawa committed N1 billion to a broad social intervention fund, establishing a committee to implement programmes aimed at improving the welfare of the poor and vulnerable across the state.

“With the broader intervention nearing completion, the Initiative resolved to pilot a focused response to the growing menace of child street begging,” Maidoki said. “A dedicated committee was constituted, an action plan developed, and measures put in place to ensure success.”

The N50 million programme covers vocational training, entrepreneurship support, feeding, and basic daily needs for the children throughout the training period, ensuring economic pressure does not force them back to the streets.

Beneficiaries from Sokoto South, Sokoto North, Bodinga, Tambuwal, Gwadabawa, Silame, and Wurno local government areas have been enrolled in skills such as tailoring, shoemaking, fashion design, and other trades, with tools and equipment fully provided.

Maidoki emphasized that sustainability measures have been built into the programme to ensure lasting impact and complement government and civil society efforts to end street begging nationwide.

“This initiative is about restoring hope and giving these children a future as productive citizens,” he said, calling on Nigerians to support similar interventions that address social vulnerabilities at their roots. He also urged beneficiaries to remain focused and committed, noting that the programme’s success would demonstrate how strategic private interventions can complement government policies in tackling Nigeria’s human development challenges.