Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the president has been commended for her efforts to support women in agriculture, as part of the official efforts to increase food production in Nigeria. The commendation was given by Pastor Umo Eno, governor of Akwa Ibom State. He spoke at the launching of the Renewed Hope Initiative Women Agriculture Support Programme for the South-South geo-political zone of the country.
The Governor emphasised the importance of the programme in supporting farming populations and ensuring food security. He said, “As our nation grapples with this challenging economic environment that has led to high prices of food items, this programme will help support our farming populations to ensure that we get back to the farm.” The wife of the governor, Mrs. Patience Umo Eno, also expressed appreciation for the opportunity provided by the programme. She believes that it will go a long way to address some of the challenges that women face in agriculture.
Inaugurating the RHI Women Agricultural Support Programme, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, disclosed that the programme aims to empower 20 women from each of the six states in the South-South region with the sum of N500,000 per beneficiary. She explained that 75% of the beneficiaries are young females mainly involved in agriculture.
The First Lady further announced that 100 persons living with disabilities who are in small-scale businesses would each receive the sum of N100, 000 to boost their businesses. That is another aspect of the First Lady’s programme that Pastor Eno admires. In fact, he said the support to the elderly and people living with desirability inspired him to do more for people in that bracket in his state.
The governor recalled the First Lady’s previous empowerment programme in the state, where 250 elders received N100,000 each. He was so torched that he made a promise to Mrs. Tinubu. According to him, “We told her we will support and adopt that initiative by launching the Arise Initiative for the Elders, which is now in operation.” And here is his testimony: “Every month, elders, especially the vulnerable ones, from the 369 wards in all the Local Government Areas in the State are given fifty thousand naira each to take care of their needs, especially food and medicine.”
Eno also highlighted the state’s commitment to supporting people with disabilities. “One of the very first appointments I made was that of an assistant to the Governor on students living with disabilities, as well as another with other people with special needs,” he said. Speaking further, he said, “We have gone ahead to institute a N100 million grant for students living with disabilities.” And for that he already has some good reports. He said, “So far, we have paid N250,000 and N350,000 respectively to undergraduates and Postgraduates and students living with special needs.”
