By our Reporter
The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals and the Renewed Hope Initiative have empowered 4,500 indigent and vulnerable women across the five South-East states with business equipment.
The beneficiaries comprised 500 women each from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states under the core OSSAP-SDGs/RHI programme, as well as an additional 2,000 Imo women supported by the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma.
Nigeria’s First Lady and Chairman of the Renewed Hope Initiative, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, also donated ₦100,000 to each of the 2,500 beneficiaries in Imo State, amounting to ₦250 million.
A statement released by the Special Assistant on Media, Publicity and Strategic Communications in OSSAP-SDGs, Desmond Utomwen noted that the intervention was unveiled in Owerri during the South-East flag-off of the RHI Women Economic Empowerment Programme, implemented in collaboration with OSSAP-SDGs.
While the First Lady performed the zonal flag-off in Owerri, similar presentations were held simultaneously in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states, where 500 pre-selected women in each state received empowerment items. The business equipment distributed included deep-chest freezers, maxi gas cookers with ovens, generators and industrial grinding machines, intended to help the beneficiaries establish new businesses or strengthen existing enterprises.
The South-East exercise followed earlier phases in the North-Central, South-South and South-West geopolitical zones. Under the core nationwide programme, OSSAP-SDGs and RHI are targeting 18,500 vulnerable women, comprising 500 beneficiaries in each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
In her address, the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, explained that the initiative was designed to provide women with productive assets to strengthen their livelihoods and enable them to contribute more meaningfully to their families and communities. According to her, the nationwide programme is expected to empower 18,500 women, comprising 500 beneficiaries from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. She added that women’s economic empowerment remained central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 5 on Gender Equality and SDG 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth.
Senator Tinubu urged the beneficiaries to put the equipment and financial support to productive use, stressing that the resources were intended to help them establish or expand their businesses, increase their incomes and improve their families’ welfare.
“Let these items serve as a foundation for creating a better life for yourselves and your families. I hope and pray that what you received today will prosper in your hands,” she said.
Speaking at the event, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, OFR, described the South-East exercise as another milestone in the partnership between OSSAP-SDGs and RHI to expand economic opportunities for vulnerable women. She said 500 pre-selected women in each of the five South-East states—Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo—received empowerment items under the core programme. The Imo State Government’s support for an additional 2,000 women increased the total number of beneficiaries across the zone from 2,500 to 4,500.
Orelope-Adefulire explained that the beneficiaries were drawn from vulnerable groups, including wives of fallen heroes, widows and indigent women who possessed the determination to work but required productive assets to improve their livelihoods.
Describing the intervention as a practical demonstration of the principle of Leaving No One Behind, she said its objective went beyond distributing equipment.
“Our objective is not merely to distribute equipment, but to provide productive assets that can unlock potential, foster economic independence and create opportunities for women to thrive,” she said.
“By equipping women with tools such as gas cookers, generators, deep freezers and grinding machines, we are enabling beneficiaries to establish new businesses, strengthen existing enterprises, earn sustainable incomes and provide greater economic security for their households.”
The SSAP-SDGs said women’s economic empowerment was an important accelerator of sustainable development, contributing directly to SDG 1 on No Poverty, SDG 5 on Gender Equality, SDG 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 10 on Reduced Inequalities.
“When a woman is economically empowered, the benefits extend beyond income generation. Poverty is reduced, and she is better positioned to support her family’s health and well-being, address hunger, invest in her children’s education and exercise her rights with greater confidence and independence,” she said.
Orelope-Adefulire urged the beneficiaries to regard the equipment as tools of opportunity and deploy them to create value, generate income and build sustainable livelihoods.
“Please do not see them merely as gifts to be received and disposed of. Put them to productive use. Build with them. Grow your businesses with them,” she added.
Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, in his remarks, described the equipment as start-up tools and economic lifelines for indigent and vulnerable women. He commended the First Lady, RHI and OSSAP-SDGs for implementing the programme and supporting women and vulnerable groups across the country.
“When you empower a woman, you have empowered an entire household, improved livelihoods and strengthened small businesses,” the governor said.
The wife of the Imo State Governor and RHI State Coordinator, Barrister Chioma Uzodimma, said the additional empowerment items would be distributed across the state’s three senatorial zones of Okigwe, Orlu and Owerri. She urged the beneficiaries to use the equipment judiciously and ensure that the intervention translated into sustainable businesses, increased incomes and improved family welfare.
