Tinubu’s wife empowers 500 Ebonyi Women, Targets 18,000 Nationwide

By Uchenna Okah, Abakaliki

The Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has empowered 500 indigent women in Ebonyi State with business equipment as part of a nationwide initiative targeting 18,000 women across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The empowerment, aimed at boosting women’s economic independence and expanding opportunities for vulnerable households, saw beneficiaries receive deep freezers, gas cookers with ovens, power generators and industrial grinding machines.

Presenting the items on behalf of the First Lady, wife of the Ebonyi State Governor, Mrs. Mary-Maudline Nwifuru, said the intervention was being implemented simultaneously across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.

She said the programme was facilitated through the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), stressing that it was designed to equip women with the means to establish new businesses or strengthen existing enterprises.

According to her, the initiative was first launched in Abuja for the North-Central zone in February 2025, while similar distributions were subsequently carried out in the South-South and South-West zones.

She said: “By the end of the nationwide rollout of this initiative, 18,000 women would have been empowered across the country, with 500 beneficiaries selected from each state and the FCT.”

Tinubu said the programme aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its commitment to recognizing the critical role of women in nation-building and economic development.

She urged the beneficiaries to use the equipment judiciously, stressing that the intervention was intended to provide them with sustainable means of livelihood and improve the economic wellbeing of their families.

Also speaking, the representative of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Dr. Ify Ukaegbu, warned the beneficiaries against selling the items.

Ukaegbu said the intervention was not designed as a temporary relief measure but as an economic empowerment programme aimed at expanding opportunities for indigent and vulnerable women.

She urged the beneficiaries to deploy the equipment productively, assuring that the ultimate objective was to help them build sustainable businesses, achieve financial independence and contribute to the development of their communities.