Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the President, on Tuesday, presented a N60 million cheque to 120 women farmers drawn from each of the six states in the South-West geo-political zone to help them commence farming activities in the year 2024 planting season.
AgroNigeria gathered that the First Lady presented the cheques during the launch of the Renewed Hope Initiative Women Agricultural Support Programme for the South-West and flagging off of 2024 planting season held on Tuesday at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
While speaking at the presentation, Mrs Tinubu said the flag-off was part of the commitment of the present All Progressives Congress (APC) led administration to promote the women folk, particularly the farmers across the country.
She also disclosed that the same exercise was being replicated simultaneously in Plateau State for the North Central, Borno for the North-East and Kebbi for the NorthWest geopolitical zones.
According to the First Lady, the federal government’s commitment is towards empowering the women to continually contribute to sustainable development while also helping to achieve food security.
The administration of President Bola Tinubu, she said, recognises the pivotal role agriculture plays in achieving sustainable development and ensuring food sufficiency and as such, the Renewed Hope Initiative’s commitment to supporting women farmers nationwide aligns with the broader agenda to strengthen the agricultural sector.
She said, “Today, we are supporting 20 women per state in the South-West with the sum of N500,000 each. To this end, a draft cheque of N10 million per state will be handed over to the first ladies who are the Coordinators of this programme in each of the South-West states for disbursement to the beneficiaries.”
She then urged the women farmers beneficiaries to seize the opportunity of the support received to expand their farming entrepreneurship, improve on their contribution to national and local food production and serve as role models to aspiring women in the country.
The First Lady also called on all stakeholders including government officials, community leaders and non-governmental organizations to support local farmers and every effort that could help to increase food production in the country.
In his earlier remarks, the governor of the state, Prince Dapo Abiodun applauded Mrs. Tinubu for the initiative, describing the kind gesture as quite exemplary and testimony to the visionary leadership of the First Lady.
Governor Abiodun said the Women Agricultural Support Programme was no doubt a well-thought-out initiative which would no doubt further encourage women farmers to boost food production across the country.
Investment in women, he explained, was quite important as any nation that invested in women was only investing in its future because women are mothers of nations.
According to him, his administration has equally prioritized the empowerment of women as over 50,000 of them have benefited from over N1.5bn Okowo Dapo, a financial assistance scheme initiated by his government to support the women among others.
Speaking at the flag-off event was also the wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs Bamidele Abiodun, who expressed her gratitude to the President’s wife for working hard to make life much better for the women and the less privileged in the country through the Renewed Hope Initiative.
Mrs Abiodun stated that such kind gestures such as the Women Agricultural Support Programme would no doubt impact the prosperity of the women farmers but also helped in boosting food production in the country.
