By Seyi Babalola
The First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has flagged off the Renewed Hope Initiative Agricultural Support Programme for the South West Zone of Nigeria.
Busola Kukoyi, SSA Media to the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, disclosed this in a statement.
According to the First Lady, the Launch is in fulfillment of her promise to continue to promote women, particularly farmers across the nation.
The event, which held simultaneously in three other zones, namely: North Central – Plateau State; North East – Borno State; North West- Kebbi State, had 20 women farmers empowered with N500,000 each in addition to being trained on produce preservation, cultivation and others.
“The administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, recognises the pivotal role that agriculture plays in achieving sustainable development and ensuring food sufficiency. Therefore, the Renewed Hope Initiative’s commitment to supporting women farmers nationwide aligns with the broader National agenda to strengthen the agricultural sector.
“Today, we are supporting 20 women farmers per State in the South West Zone with the sum of N500,000 each. To this end, a draft of N10,000,000 per State for the South West Zone will be handed over to the First Ladies of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo States who are also RHI State Coordinators for onward disbursement to all beneficiaries in their respective States. These farmers are those in the agrarian sector, animal husbandry, poultry and fish farming”.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu also announced the readiness of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to partner with the Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI in promoting women’s involvement in Agriculture.
“In a short while, the Renewed Hope Initiative will be collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to empower potential farmers.
In this phase,75% of the beneficiaries will be young female farmers while 25% will be for our young male farmers. They will all be specially identified, trained and empowered.
Also, the pre-identified 80 women farmers in each State for our agricultural support programme will be carried along”.
The event was a two-in-one, where the First Lady gave out recapitalisation grants of N100, 000 each to 100 People with Disabilities (PWD) in Ogun State.
“All pre-selected recipients of the grant will receive the funds today, through our RHI Coordinator for Ogun State, Her Excellency, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun”.
She seized the opportunity to inform the gathering about some of the upcoming and ongoing activities of the Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI.
Some of them were the RHI Every Home a garden Competition in which women are encouraged to plant a garden at home.
“The goal of this is to ensure food in every home, hence our slogan for this initiative is “#FoodOnEveryTable”.
I encourage you all to spread the word in your communities. The winner of this competition will go home with N20,000,000. Entries are to be submitted through the State First Ladies by October, 2024.
The best garden in the State will be selected by the State First Lady and sent to my Office, while the overall winner out of the 37 presented, representing all States of the Federation and the FCT will be announced in December, 2024”.
The other competition announced was the #One Nigeria/unity fabric.
“As we are in Abeokuta, the home of rich fabrics and textile designs, I am happy to also inform you of our National Fabric Competition #ONE NIGERIA/unity fabric. This competition seeks to create a fabric that is indigenous, promotes peace and unifies us as Nigerians.
The competition is open to all Nigerians within and outside the shores of the country within ages of 15-25 years old. The winner of this competition will be given a cash prize of N25,000,000 to be channeled towards his/her education or business venture as the case may be. Call for entries have begun and submission of entries closes on the 30th of June, 2024. The Unity Fabric will be launched on the 1st of October, 2024”.
Earlier, the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu met with Traditional rulers in the State where she assured them of the preparedness of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to bring the nation back to its enviable status.
The Akarigbo of Remo land, Oba Babatunde Adewale Ajayi, who spoke on behalf of the monarchs applauded her interventions, adding that her home state is proud of her antecedents and contributions to national development.
