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Nigeria’s First Lady donates 50m to women traders in Nasarawa
The wife of Nasarawa State Governor, Hajiya Silifat Abdullahi -Sule ( r) presenting the cash grant to one of the beneficiaries at Government House, Lafia
From Esther Akaa, Lafia
The First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has donated the sum of N50,000 each to 1,000 women petty traders as grant under the Renewed Hope Initiative to improve their businesses in Nasarawa State.
Senator Tinubu made the donations on Thursday at Government House Lafia.
Represented by Silifat Abdullahi-Sule, the wife of Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, Senator Tinubu said the aim was to lessen the hardship faced by women in the state .
She said the beneficiaries were selected from rural areas across the 13 local government areas of the State as a gesture targeted at boosting their businesses and improving the well-being of the women.
She said that the scheme was designed to support rural women traders in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja to enable them to contribute towards revamping the nation’s economy.
“The beneficiaries were carefully selected from the 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state, and each beneficiary will get N50,000, amounting to N50 million,” she added.
She charged the beneficiaries to invest the money in their businesses and not to use it for different purposes that would not improve their living standards.
On her part, Gov Sule’s wife, represented by Mrs. Shela Tosan-Akabe, wife of the Deputy Gov. of the state, expressed gratitude to the first lady for the kind gesture, saying it will go a long way in alleviating the challenges petty traders were experiencing due to the current economic situation.
The Governor’s wife stated that the Renewed Hope Initiative programme was designed with the aim to achieve economic empowerment, improve education, agriculture, health-care , social investment, among others at the grassroots.
Earlier, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Aisha Rufai Ibrahim, said the gesture of the first lady of the country will ensure that the lives of vulnerable women across the local government areas of the state are improved.
She, therefore charged the beneficiaries to use the funds given to improve their businesses.
Speaking in an interview with Nigeria Post, some of the beneficiaries, Amina Suleiman- Ibrahim and Hadiza Mohammed both said they will use the money to invest in grain businesses to increase profit.
They both appreciated the president’s wife for the gesture and pledged to use the money judiciously.
