13 States Benefit From FG’s Women Empowerment Programme

The Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, has distributed about 387 items in 13 states of the federation in the first phase of its initiative to scale up the socio-economic status of women and the vulnerable in rural areas.

Some of the items distributed in the first phase were Garri processing and frying machines, industrial sewing machines, industrial button-hole holding machines, and heavy industrial irons.

Others were tapping machines, steam pressing machines, sewing machines for stretches and stitches, cloth cutting machines, fish smoking machines, 60,000-liter fish-rearing buckets, and rice milling machines.

A statement by the Minister’s Special Assistant Media, Ohaeri Joseph, said the items were distributed to Anambra, Kano, Rivers, Imo, Lagos, Oyo, Katsina, Gombe, and Kebbi State.

Other states were Adamawa, Ebonyi, Niger, Bayelsa, Benue, and Jigawa states.

It said the modalities have been drawn for the next tranche of empowerment in other states, and the move was to fulfil her earlier promise in August last year on resumption of duty aimed at changing the narratives on the empowerment of women in Nigeria.

“It is obvious that our strategies towards improving the living conditions of our women in the past have not yielded a positive impact, as most of our women, especially in rural areas, are still in abject poverty.

“Our President is very emphatic about allowing the poor to breathe to provide a level ground for all Nigerians, especially for women and the vulnerable, because women and children are the major constituents of our population, hence the need to place them on the front burner in the scheme of things,” it said.