By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
The Akwa Ibom governor has lauded the wife of Nigeria’s President and national chairman of the Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on the inclusion of a support programme for persons with disabilities (PWDs) in theorganisation.
Pastor Umo Eno, who bared his mind, Tuesday, at the launch of the Renewed Hope Initiative Women Agriculture Support Programme for the South South geo-political zone of the country, which took place at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Uyo, lauded her humanitarian disposition in the financial empowerment of about 100 persons living with special needs through the Renewed Hope Initiative Business Recapitalisation Grant.
Eno noted that through the programme, vulnerable groups all over the nation have been given financial empowerment, recalling how impressed Akwa Ibom government was, during her empowerment programme in the state, when 250 elders were given N100,000 each.
The governor recalled the assurance by government to support and adopt the initiative by launching the Arise Initiative for the Elders, which is currently in operation in Akwa Ibom.
According to him, every month, elders, particularly, the vulnerable ones from the 368 wards in all the local government areas of the State are given N50,000 each, to take care of their needs particularly, food and medicine.
Eno said the Renewed Hope Initiative Women Agriculture Support Programme so launched, will help support the zone’s farming populations to ensure that they get back to the farm, as Nigeria grapples with the current challenging economic environment that has led to high prices of food items.
He explained that though the State has temporarily done something about the high foodstuff problem, through the food voucher programme from the Bulk Purchase Agency, the solution is for everyone to return to the farm, noting that the State had declared every first and third Fridays as work-free and farm days to encourage people to return to the farm to ensure food security, as a nation that cannot feed itself is in grave danger.
The governor noted that the State has also taken serious interest in people living with disabilities, as seen in his appointment of an assistant to the governor on students living with disabilities, alongside another with other people with special needs.
He recalled that the State has gone ahead to institute a N100 million grant for students living with disabilities, adding that, so far, government has paid N250,000 and N350,000 respectively, to undergraduates and Postgraduates students living with special needs, assuring that government will continue to work with them.
Eno recalled the recent presentation of a cheque of N1.5 million under the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Programme to a man who, according to him, makes shoes and gifted him a pair of shoes, saying, he was emotional and thrilled that the man attended the nine weeks training.
The State chief executive officer said he had since directed the commissioner for health to ensure he is provided a proper means of movement, as well as directed his special assistant on humanitarian services to ensure he locates and furnishes his factory with necessary industrial machines.
According to him, “These are part of the programmes we believe can get to the grassroots and touch our people, people that we so often forget and only remember them during elections. This time, we have made it a priority that we bring them forth”.
Launching the Renewed Hope Initiative Women Agricultural Support Programme, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who was represented by the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, said the programme, which has also been held in other geopolitical zones in the country, aims at empowering 20 women each from the six states in the south-south region with N500,000 per beneficiary.
She explained that 75 per cent of the beneficiaries of the scheme are young females who are mainly into agriculture, notably those in the agrarian sector, animal husbandry, poultry, and fish farming, adding that the RHI will be collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to empower other potential farmers.
The country’s First Lady also announced that 100 persons living with disabilities who are into small-scale businesses would receive N100,000 each, to boost their businesses.
“Today, we are supporting twenty (20) women farmers per state in the South-South Zone with the sum of N500,000 each. To this end, a draft of Ten Million Naira (N10,000,000) per state will be handed over to the First Ladies of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers States who are also RHIstate coordinators for onward disbursement to all beneficiaries in their respective states.”
The Akwa Ibom first lady, Pastor Patience Umo Eno, said women in agriculture are always faced with challenges, including access to finance and availability of land, and appreciated the wife of the President, for providing the women with opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the nation.
She was appreciative of the financial support to women in farming which, she was sure, will go a long way to supporting the women, urging beneficiaries to make judicious use of the financial support for their own good, the state and the country at large.
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