By Isaac Mission
The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs), in partnership with the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), has provided business equipment to 4,500 vulnerable women across Nigeria’s five South-East states.
The beneficiaries include 500 women each from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States under the nationwide OSSAP-SDGs/RHI empowerment programme. In Imo, an additional 2,000 women benefited from support provided by the state government.
The intervention was formally launched in Owerri as part of the South-East rollout of the RHI Women Economic Empowerment Programme. Similar empowerment presentations were held concurrently in the other four states.
First Lady and Chairperson of the Renewed Hope Initiative, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, also announced a cash grant of N100,000 for each of the 2,500 beneficiaries under the core programme in Imo, bringing the total financial support to N250 million.
The equipment distributed to the women included deep freezers, gas cookers fitted with ovens, generators and industrial grinding machines. The items are intended to help recipients establish new businesses or improve enterprises they already operate.
The South-East rollout forms part of a broader national intervention targeting 18,500 vulnerable women. The programme provides 500 beneficiaries in each of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory with productive assets to support income generation and household livelihoods.
Speaking at the event, Mrs Tinubu said the initiative was designed to give women practical resources that could strengthen their economic independence and improve the welfare of their families.
She encouraged the beneficiaries to use the equipment responsibly and turn the support into sustainable sources of income.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the programme reflects the government's commitment to expanding economic opportunities for women and ensuring that vulnerable groups are not left behind.
She explained that the beneficiaries were selected from vulnerable groups, including widows, wives of fallen heroes and other indigent women who had the willingness to work but lacked the necessary productive assets.
Orelope-Adefulire stressed that the initiative was not simply about distributing items, but about providing women with tools capable of creating lasting economic opportunities.
She noted that empowering women economically could contribute to poverty reduction, improved family welfare and progress towards several Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those relating to poverty, gender equality, decent work and reduced inequality.
The Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, praised the initiative and described the equipment as valuable start-up resources for vulnerable women. He said supporting women economically would also strengthen households and small businesses across the state.
The governor's wife and RHI State Coordinator, Chioma Uzodimma, disclosed that the additional support for 2,000 women would be distributed across Imo's three senatorial zones—Okigwe, Orlu and Owerri.
She urged beneficiaries to make productive use of the equipment, build sustainable businesses and use the opportunity to improve their incomes and the welfare of their families.
