The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has flagged off the Renewed Hope Initiative for women in agriculture in the South-West support programme and social investment for people living with disabilities.
Addressing stakeholders at the event held at the cultural centre in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Thursday, the First Lady announced the sum of #500,000 each for twenty women farmers in each of the South-West states of Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and Ondo and #100,000 for 100 people living with disabilities in each state to recapitalize their existing businesses.
While assuring more investments in women’s development, she asked beneficiaries of the initiative to make good use of the gesture for food sufficiency and security.
“Today, we are supporting 20 women farmers per state with the sum of N500,000 each. To this end, a draft of N10million per state for the South West zone will be handed over to the first ladies of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo states who are the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) state coordinators for onward disbursement to all beneficiaries in their respective states,” she said.
“The Renewed Hope Initiative Social Investment Programme will be empowering 100 persons with disability, small business owners in Ogun State with a sum of N100,000 each to recapitalise their existing businesses.”
Senator Tinubu also disclosed that the Renewed Hope Initiative would be collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to empower farmers, saying that 75% of the beneficiaries will be young female farmers and 25% of young male farmers would be specially identified, trained and empowered under the programme.
The First Lady, while adding that the pre-identified 80 women farmers in each state for agricultural support program would be carried along, urged women farmers to seize the opportunity to expand their agricultural ventures and contribute to local and national food production.
“In a short while, the Renewed Hope Initiative will be collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to empower potential farmers. In this phase, 75% of the beneficiaries will be young female farmers while 25% will be for young male farmers. They will all be specially identified, trained and empowered,” the First Lady said.
“I want to implore our women farmers receiving support today to seize this opportunity to expand their agricultural ventures, contribute to local and national food production, and serve as role models for others aspiring to join the agricultural sector,” she added.
Earlier in his remarks, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, disclosed that his administration through the Oko’owo Dapo scheme has assisted over 50,000 women to grow their businesses with additional funding from the Federal Government’s Nigeria for Women Project.
Abiodun, who added that the total investment of the scheme now stands at about N1.5 billion, said the Ogun Broiler Empowerment Scheme through which day-old chicks were given to women and broilers taken from them every 90 days, has also empowered over 500 women agric entrepreneurs.
Governor Abiodun while noting that his administration has also launched Ibi-Dero, an initiative specifically targeted at pregnant indigent women for pre-natal delivery, post-natal, and neo-natal care free of charge, maintained that his administration has succeeded in reducing Maternal and Child Mortality Rate in the state.
The state helmsman noted that his administration has prioritised the welfare and empowerment of women as a result of their population, adding that his government has also implemented programmes aimed at boosting the status of women by including them in politics, governance, and economic activities as well as providing education for girls.
Abiodun added that the Renewed Hope Initiative Women Agricultural Support Programme holds a special resonance as it mirrors the resilience and tenacity of women in the state and the South-West, saying that the spirit of women is integral to driving agricultural innovation and economic growth.
Governor Abiodun, while noting that the Renewed Hope Initiative programme symbolizes the determination of his administration to uplift women farmers, fortifying the agricultural framework and aligning with the sustainable development goals to ensure food security and sufficiency, added that investing in women extends beyond moral obligations.
In her welcome address, the state’s First Lady and the state coordinator of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) in Ogun State, Bamidele Abiodun, noted that the initiative is to celebrate and empower women in agriculture, commending Nigeria’s First Lady for sponsoring students with interest in agriculture to Belarus for more studies.
She noted that supporting women in agriculture in the state would help to improve the agriculture value chain, adding that the discrimination against people with disabilities would soon become a thing of the past with the determination of Senator Oluremi Tinubu to make the required difference.
In her remarks, the South-West Zonal Coordinator for the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) and wife of the Governor of Oyo State, Tamunominini Makinde, noted that the support program would assist women in agriculture thereby improving the agriculture sector of the states, urging the beneficiaries to use the support judiciously.
