Category: South West

Ogun State Government has announced plans to institutionalise Women Empowerment Scheme (Oko’wo Dapo) as a state-backed Women’s Trust Fund Policy.

It said this is part of efforts to further strengthen women’s economic empowerment across the state, while complementing the gains of the Nigeria for Women Project Scale-Up (NFWP-SU), a Federal Government-led women empowerment project aimed at empowering 105,000 women beneficiaries across the four implementing local governments.

Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Motunrayo Adeleye, who said this during the launch of NFWP Scale-Up phase, held at Awujale Interregnum, Awujale’s Palace in Ijebu-Ode, noted that the institutionalisation of Oko’wo Dapo would guarantee continuity, sustainability and transparency for women-focused initiatives, ensuring empowerment programmes remained active and impactful beyond political cycles.

She described the new policy as a strategic step to expand access to opportunities and resources for women across the state.

Expressing that the earlier establishment of the state scheme was consequent upon the success recorded in the first phase of the NFWP held in the four pioneer councils, namely Ijebu North-East, Odeda, Yewa North and Ikenne, the commissioner said 3,792 Women Affinity Groups (WAGs) and 61 Livelihood Collectives/Hubs had been established across the four local governments.

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She said the hubs had evolved into thriving centres for innovation, savings, skills development and intergenerational learning, demonstrating the transformative impact of structured, community-driven empowerment programmes.

The commissioner, who announced that the Scale-Up phase targeted the enrolment of no fewer than 25,000 women in Ijebu-Ode, encouraged traders, artisans, entrepreneurs, professionals and women aged 18 and above to participate, noting that the facilitators for the programme were carefully selected from the local communities to ensure accessibility, proper guidance and community ownership.

Adeleye lauded Governor Dapo Abiodun for providing the political will and visionary leadership that had enabled the project’s expansion.

She further praised the Multisectoral Coordination Structure, chaired by the Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo, for its strategic oversight, which she said had been critical to achieving the milestones of the first phase and the Scale-Up initiative.

The commissioner said institutionalisation of Oko’wo Dapo together with the NFWP Scale-Up positioned Ogun State as a reference point for women-centred development initiatives nationwide.

She described the move as key to sustaining socio-economic gains, expanding livelihood opportunities and promoting inclusion for women across diverse sectors of the economy.

Okubadejo, who doubles as the chairman of the Multisectoral Coordination Structure (MCS), posited that the Project Development Objective of the NFWP-SU aligned seamlessly with the present administration’s vision, noting that “a society that invests in women invests in sustainable development, stronger households and inclusive growth. ‘’This administration has consistently prioritised Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) as a key pillar for removing the structural, social and economic barriers that limit women from participating fully in economic activities.”

Commending the state Project Coordinator, Mrs Bolanle Fadairo, with affirmation of the readiness of the state government to institutionalise Oko-Owo Dapo into a state-wide Women Trust Fund, the commissioner said the scale-up phase would deepen and expand the state’s capacity to reach more women, more households and more communities.

He added that the 420 ward facilitators serving as the primary foot soldiers of the project would work towards the formation of 10 Women Affinity Groups (WAGs), which would comprise 25 WAG members per facilitator, resulting in a total of 105,000 empowered women beneficiaries across the four implementing councils.

“The 105,000 women beneficiaries will be exposed to series of training and retraining programme on Financial Education, Business Skill, GRM and Life Skills among others to enhance and influence entrepreneurial skill for improving women’s contribution to the State Gross Domestic Product. Equally educate them on how best to handle personal and business challenges of life”, Okubadejo stated.

The Senior Social Development Specialist and Task-Team Leader for the Scale-Up Project, Micheal Ilesanmi, appraised the performance of the state during the first phase of the project, noting that the state was designated by the World Bank as a leading state, resulting in about 16 states approaching the state for peer-learning and capacity building of their respective project workforce.

He lauded Governor Abiodun, Commissioners for Finance, Women Affairs and Social Development, affirming that they had provided strong guidance, coordination and oversight throughout the lifecycle of the first project, expressing optimism that the state government would surpass the set target in the scale-up phase.