By Philip Yatai

Rep. Donatus Mathew (LP – Kaduna), representing Kaura Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, has distributed about 50 motorcycles to constituents as part of his economic empowerment programmes.

Mathews disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

He explained that the measure was to enable the beneficiaries to navigate through the current economic hardship being experienced across the country.

He identified some of the beneficiaries as mostly farmers, youths and other indigent constituents in dire need of sustainable means of livelihood.

“I have been living among my people in the village, so to some extent, I know some of their basic needs.

“We don’t have good roads to our farms; no good roads for economic activities to thrive, and no good roads to go to our markets.

“This made motorcycles a veritable means of transportation in rural communities,” he said.

The lawmaker added that the motorcycles would not only ease the movement of people but take farmers to their farms and enable them to evacuate their farm produce to their homes and markets.

For the unemployed youths in the local government area, Mathew said that the motorcycles would provide sustainable means of income and improve their standard of living.

“I am supporting the unemployed youth with motorcycles to have something to do.

“This will significantly cushion the effect of the present economic hardship being experienced in every part of the country,” he said.

He explained that 50 motorcycles were the first batch, adding that more would be procured and distributed to additional constituents.

Describing the gesture as “life-changing”, the lawmaker called on the constituents to embrace the Labour Party to enjoy more dividends of democracy.

He expressed the party’s commitment toward meeting the aspiration of the people through the implementation of various people-oriented programmes that impacted on the life of the common man.

One of the beneficiaries, Mr Amai Christopher, said that the gesture had already changed his life for the better.

Christopher, a 2018 graduate of Physical Health Education from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, told NAN that the motorcycle has turned his life around.

He said that motorcycles, selling for between N1.2 million and N1.3 million, were beyond the reach of a common man and thanked the lawmaker for the gesture.

“I have been without a job since graduation and had to rely on farming a small piece of land to survive.

“Even the farming was not fruitful due to lack of capital to go beyond subsistence farming.

“The motorcycle is not only assisting me with mobility to go to the farm, but also serving as a sustainable means of income as I use it to transport people and their goods to various locations.

“I am really grateful to Mr Donatus Mathew, whom we fondly call “Digester”, for turning my life around,” he said. (NAN)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru