First Lady Empowers 1,000 Women in Kogi

Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has flagged off the Renewed Hope Initiative Economic Empowerment programme for 1,000 women petty traders in Kogi State.

The programme is part of the commitment of the President’s wife to driving economic growth towards a better life for families, especially women across the country.

Flagging off the disbursement of the grants in Lokoja, the state capital, on Thursday, the First Lady revealed that a total of N1.85bn would be disbursed to the selected 1,000 Kogi women and 36,000 other female petty traders in other states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Tinubu, represented by the wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Fatima Abbas, noted that RHI was aware of the challenges being faced by Small and Medium Enterprises, especially the petty traders who form the backbone of the local economies.

Abbas added that the N50,000 business recapitalisation grant would go a long way in strengthening the beneficiaries’ businesses for better profits.

She, however, stressed that these challenges had not deterred the strength of the women in their avowed commitment to contribute to the economy at the grassroots.

She said, “Through the Renewed Hope Initiative Economic Empowerment Programme, we are providing 1,000 pre-selected women petty traders per state with a grant of N50,000 each to recapitalize and grow their businesses.

“The grants provided today are to assist our women petty traders in overcoming some of their business challenges, expand their businesses, create more jobs, and contribute more robustly to our economy.”

The First Lady affirmed that economic empowerment remained a core objective of the Renewed Hope Initiative, adding that the programme had continued to support the economic reforms of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

In his remarks, the governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, said the Renewed Hope Initiative was built on a strong administrative and economic platform “that is sustainable even after eight years”, describing it as a visionary masterplan to address poverty amongst women.

Ododo commended the First Lady for showing that she was capable of matching words with action by providing a strong platform to address poverty among women.