First Lady gives 500 women cash support to boost businesses in Ondo 

The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has disbursed N50,000 each to 500 women in Ondo State under her pet project, the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Economic Empowerment Programme.

Mrs. Tinubu said the financial support was done in partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

During the disbursement of the cash at the International Culture and Event Centre in Akure, the First Lady said the gesture aimed to support 18,500 women entrepreneurs with business re-capitalisation grants across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Represented by the wife of the governor, Mrs. Oluwaseun Aiyedatiwa, Senator Tinubu said: “This Economic Empowerment Programme is about supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of our women traders and small-scale business owners who wake up each day determined to provide for their families, educate their children, and uplift their communities

“Let me emphasise that this is not a loan. It is a grant and a seed of renewed hope to help you re-capitalise your existing businesses. It is my firm belief that when you empower a woman, you empower a household, a community, and indeed, a nation.”

The First Lady said the event followed the symbolic launch of the programme in Niger State, where 50 women received cash grants

She said: “I thank the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which donated N1 billion to the Renewed Hope Initiative, to directly support 18,500 women across the country.

“Five hundred women from each of the 36 states and the FCT will be receiving N50,000 each to strengthen and re-capitalise their existing small businesses.”

The Commissioner for Women Affairs, Dr. Seun Osamaye, urged beneficiaries to make good use of the funds, especially to improve their businesses and trades.

Osamaye, who promised to monitor the beneficiaries across the 18 local government areas of the state to ensure they use the grant judiciously, reiterated that the fund is not a loan but a seed grant from the Renewed Hope Initiative.

“This is happening to women under the leadership of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and our mothers, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu and Esther Aiyedatiwa. We are immensely grateful for this gesture,” she said.