Lagos disburses N40m to 750 widows
Lagos State Government has disbursed N50,000 each to 750 widows as part of efforts to support and empower vulnerable women across the state.
Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), Cecilia Dada, said this at the 2025 International Widows’ Day celebration held in Lagos.
She said the initiative was in line with the state’s ongoing commitment to improving the welfare of widows and creating opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.
Today is International Widows’ Day, and we have gathered to celebrate and empower widows in Lagos State. We are giving 750 widows the sum of N50,000 each to support and uplift them,” she said.
Mrs Dada explained that the financial empowerment was part of a broader initiative following the Livelihood Economic Empowerment Programme (LEEP), a four-week vocational training scheme designed to equip widows with practical and marketable skills.
LEEP is a short-term programme implemented across the five IBILE divisions of Lagos State. Widows are trained in trades such as catering, hairdressing, fashion design, tie & dye, and soap-making. These trainings are structured to be flexible and time-efficient, recognising the unique burdens widows carry as caregivers, breadwinners, and family anchors. Training is not the end but the beginning of a sustainable livelihood”
The commissioner noted that many beneficiaries had successfully launched businesses after completing the programme, aided by starter kits provided by the ministry.
Dada also called on residents, families, and institutions to support widows more actively in society, ensuring that their voices are heard
Also speaking, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Rianat Onigbajo, described the gathering as a purposeful platform to amplify voices and reinforce shared humanity.
Today’s event is more than symbolic. It is an expression of our collective responsibility to stand with widows across Lagos. Together, we can build a society where no woman or widow is left behind,” she said.
In another development, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) trained 68 Skills Instructors to further boost its vocational education across the state.
Mrs Dada, said the training was initiated to improve service delivery and innovation at the various WAPA skills acquisition centres.
Represented by Mrs Adejoke Oshodi-Olasunkanmi, Mrs Dada said the training would enable instructors to raise the bar.
She noted that the area of focus for the training were catering, hairdressing and cosmetology, and computer studies,
“This training is a significant step forward in our ongoing effort to ensure excellence in the delivery of vocational education across all WAPA Skill Acquisition Centres. This training is in line with the vision of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, to build self-reliant, skilled and productive residents, especially among women and vulnerable groups. This training is not just about knowledge transfer, it is about promoting continuous quality improvement, innovation and empowering our facilitators, to raise the standard of training delivery. When instructors grow, the entire system benefits, trainees become more competent, employable, and better prepared for entrepreneurship,” she said.
The commissioner enjoined the participants to take advantage of the programme to increase their knowledge, adding that the role of frontline educators could not be quantified