Nigeria’s First Lady and chair of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has launched a nationwide women’s empowerment programme targeting 18,500 beneficiaries across the country.
The scheme, which began in the North-central zone, will provide 500 women in each state with business equipment including deep freezers, gas cookers, generators and industrial grinding machines.
Speaking at the launch, Mrs Tinubu said: “These items are not just tools; they are stepping stones toward financial independence and a better future for Nigerian women.”
The initiative, a partnership between RHI and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs), aims to boost women’s economic independence and contribute to national development.
Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, said the programme would “strengthen women’s capacity to build sustainable livelihoods”.
The Women Affairs Minister, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, called the scheme “unprecedented”, noting it marked a shift from reliance on donor funding to domestic resource mobilisation.
Following the North-central launch, the programme will expand to other regions, with the South-South zone next in line to receive support.
The initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and global development goals, particularly SDG-5 on gender equality and SDG-8 on decent work and economic growth.
Dr Mariya Mahmoud, Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, described women as “the backbone of our society” and said the programme would help them “build thriving businesses, support their families, and contribute meaningfully to our communities”.
