First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has presented a N50 million cash grant to 1,000 women petty traders in Kwara State.
The presentation took place in Ilorin, the state capital, during the official commissioning of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) community ICT Centre.
The initiative is a collaboration between NITDA and the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) under its Social Investment Programme.
She added: “In the spirit of today’s event, the Renewed Hope Initiative, under the RHI Economic Empowerment scope will be presenting a grant N50 million to the first lady of the state and RHI state coordinator to support another set of 1,000 women petty traders with the sum of N50,000 each to recapitalize their existing businesses.
“We had earlier empowered 1,000 women petty traders on the 22nd August, 2024.
Under the RHI Social Investment programme, 250 elderly citizens were given a grant of N200,000 each on the 17th December, 2024 to celebrate the yuletide season.
In addition, RHI, under its Education Programme is collaborating with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to build an Alternative High School for Girls in Kwara State.
“This is to provide another opportunity to access education for girls and women who dropped out of school due to early pregnancies, child marriages and other socio-economic reasons.
“Also, Kwara State has been nominated to benefit from the construction of a model Early Childhood Care Development Education (ECCDE) Centre, which will be built in Ilorin. As part of the fruit of our collaboration with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Kwara State University is to benefit from the establishment of an ICT Experience Centre.
“Also, under our RHI agriculture programme, women and young farmers will benefit from the 68.9 million Naira Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security Support grant.
“This grant has been made available to Kwara State, through the first lady and RHI State Coordinator, who will be responsible for the implementation of the Women Agricultural Support Programme (WASP), Youth Agricultural Support Programme, Every Home a Garden and Young Farmers Club of the Renewed Hope Initiative.”
Continuing, Mrs Tinubu said: “So far, NITDA has constructed four community ICT centres in total. This centre we are commissioning today is the second, while Benue and Oyo centres are ready to be commissioned soon.
“Other digital economy centres have also been fully equipped with computers and other ICT materials in five (5) States namely – Jigawa, Ebonyi, Cross River, Oyo, Niger, and the Federal Capital Territory.
Read Also: Edo First Lady hails Sulaiman-Ibrahim on accomplishments
“Ten (10) additional digital economy centres in Abia, Edo, Delta, Ondo, Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Nasarawa, Yobe, and Zamfara are also being fully equipped with ICT materials and will be ready for commissioning soon.
“By equipping themselves with ICT skills, women and girls can enhance their educational prospects, be self-reliant, participate in the global economy, and support their families.
“Therefore, today’s commissioning presents us with another opportunity under the mandate of the Ministry of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy to further expand digital access to our citizens, by providing communities with the resources they require to develop ICT skills.
“This is in line with the priority area of the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to accelerate economic diversification through industrialisation and digitalisation.”
Earlier, Kwara State First Lady Olufolake AbdulRazaq said that the commissioning “speaks to the many engagements and partnerships of the Senator Tinubu towards ensuring that Nigerians are adequately supported in the pursuit of their goals and improving livelihoods of the most indigent to complement the efforts of Mr. President Tinubu and the Federal Government in this regard.”