Oluremi Tinubu empowers 500 women with economic tools in Ondo

First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, on Saturday, empowered 500 more women in Ondo State with business support items, reinforcing her drive to boost grassroots economic independence through the Renewed Hope Initiative Support Scheme office and the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Mrs Adejoke Adefulure.

The empowerment comes a few weeks after the First Lady empowered 500 women in the State with a grant of N50,000 each, under the Renewed Hope Initiative’s (RHI) Economic Empowerment Programme in partnership with Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Represented by the Ondo state First Lady, Mrs Oluwaseun Aiyedatiwa, who explained that the exercise was another phase of the Renewed Hope Women Empowerment Initiative, carefully designed to strengthen the businesses of 500 women in Ondo State.

According to her, the scheme goes beyond providing tools and grants, as it seeks to place women firmly on the path of self-reliance, enhance their financial independence, and ultimately improve the well-being of their families and communities.

Some of the distributed items in the latest empowerment include deep freezers, cooking gas with ovens, generators, and grinding machines in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

She said, “This initiative will benefit 18,500 women across the six geopolitical zones across the country. Recognising the critical roles women play in the society, this initiative will empower women across the country and will definitely reduce poverty and contribute to the growth of the country. We will follow up to ensure that these items are utilised. Please, don’t sell them.”

She added that the empowerment was borne out of a steadfast commitment to the economic empowerment of women and promotion of entrepreneurship, and it marks a significant stride in her collective pursuit of a more inclusive and progressive society.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Mrs Adejoke Adefulure, while speaking, said the initiative marks yet another bold and timely stride in the present dispensation’s collective effort to economically empower women across the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital of Nigeria.

Adefulure, represented by Head of Conditional Grant to States, under the office of the SSA to the President of SDGs, Dr. Ifeyinwa Nnamchi-Ukaegbu, said: “This program is meant for us to empower Nigerian women to be self-reliant, to be economically buoyant, and not to be poor again.

“I can see the joy on the faces of the beneficiaries. I express my profound appreciation to Her Excellency, Senator Remi Tinubu, for her visionary leadership and unwavering dedication to improving the lives of women across Nigeria.

“The Renew Hope Initiative, under her able leadership and guidance, continues to serve as a beacon of empowerment and economic transformation, aligning seamlessly with our national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG.

She stressed that the program is not just about distributing empowerment items, but rather, unlocking potential, fostering economic independence, and creating priority for women’s dreams.

“The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Sustainable Development Goals remain resolute in our commitment to women’s economic empowerment as a key driver to sustainable development. This initiative is directly aligned with Goal1of the SDGs.

“These investments reflect our firm belief that when a woman is empowered, a home is built, a community is strengthened, and a nation prospers,” she added.

In her remarks, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Dr. Seun Osamaye, said the bold initiative will make them economically viable, independent and make them fulfil their potential as women.

Osamaye, who is the Renewed Hope Initiative coordinator in the state, said: “This bold initiative will make them economically viable, independent and make them fulfil their potential as women

“For this, we are thankful. We want to assure you that with this empowerment, poverty is a thing of the past for these 500 women.”

Some of the beneficiaries, who expressed their appreciation, said the empowerment is unprecedented, noting that women at the grassroots are now directly benefiting from national opportunities in ways never seen before.

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