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 intervention, unveiled in Owerri during the South-East flag-off of the RHI Women Economic Empowerment Programme, saw 500 women each from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo receive equipment, while Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, supported an additional 2,000 women.
Nigeria’s First Lady and Chairman of the Renewed Hope Initiative, Oluremi Tinubu, also gave ₦100,000 each to the 2,500 core beneficiaries in Imo State, amounting to ₦250m.
The intervention was implemented by the OSSAP-SDGs in collaboration with the RHI.
Similar presentations were held simultaneously in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states, where 500 pre-selected women in each state received empowerment items.
The equipment included deep-chest freezers, maxi gas cookers with ovens, generators and industrial grinding machines.
The items are intended to help the beneficiaries establish new businesses or strengthen existing enterprises.
Speaking at the event, Tinubu said 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.
She said the nationwide programme would empower 18,500 vulnerable women, comprising 500 beneficiaries from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The First Lady said 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.
Tinubu urged the beneficiaries to put the equipment and financial support to productive use to 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.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, described the South-East exercise as another milestone in the partnership between OSSAP-SDGs and RHI.
She said the 2,500 beneficiaries under the core programme were drawn equally from the five South-East states.
According to her, Uzodimma’s support for an additional 2,000 women increased the total beneficiaries across the zone to 4,500.
Orelope-Adefulire said the beneficiaries included wives of fallen heroes, widows and indigent women who were willing to work but lacked productive assets.
She said the intervention was a practical demonstration of the principle of Leaving No One Behind.
“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.
The SSAP-SDGs added that the intervention would enable beneficiaries to establish businesses, strengthen existing enterprises, earn sustainable incomes and improve economic security in their households.
She said women’s economic empowerment was an important accelerator of sustainable development, contributing to SDGs 1, 5, 8 and 10.
“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 treat the equipment as tools for creating sustainable livelihoods rather than gifts to be disposed of.
“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.
Uzodimma described the empowerment items as start-up tools and economic lifelines for indigent and vulnerable women.
The governor commended Tinubu, RHI and OSSAP-SDGs for implementing the programme and supporting vulnerable groups across the country.
“When you empower a woman, you have empowered an entire household, improved livelihoods and strengthened small businesses,” Uzodimma said.
The wife of the Imo State Governor and RHI State Coordinator, 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.