FIRST LADY LUNCHES RENEWED HOPE INITIATIVE IN IMO, PROMISES TO EMPOWER 500 SOUTHEAST WOMEN IN AGRIC

 REPORTER: CHINAZO ILECHUKWU

Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is to empower five hundred women from the south east geo-political zone in agricultural production under her pet project “Renewed Hope initiative Women Agriculture Support Programme.”

At the launch of the programme in Owerri, Mrs. Tinubu said the gesture was in line with the policy of the Federal Government to strengthen the agricultural sector for enhanced development and food sufficiency.

The event was attended by wives of the Governors of Imo, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Bayelsa States.

According to plan, the Renewed Hope Initiative will support eighty women from the five south east states with the sum of five hundred thousand naira while the remaining four hundred persons will be trained and assisted with inputs to take off by the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA.

The First Lady explained that fingerlings and feed for fish farming, three weeks old birds for poultry, bundles of improved cassava stems and bags of fertilizers would be given to beneficiaries.

She noted that NALDA would buy the produce from the farmers after harvest to encourage them.

The Wife of Imo State Governor, Mrs. Chioma Uzodimma, underscored the need for women empowerment.

She added that the measure would aid gender equality and attainment of a more prosperous society.

In a remark, the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, described agriculture as key towards the survival of every nation and urged Nigerians to focus more on production and consumption of local products.

The Executive Secretary National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) Prince Paul Ikonne, commended the wife of the president for the gesture and announced that the authority would empower two million women under the programme.

One hundred physically challenged persons from Imo State also received the sum of one hundred thousand naira each from the wife of the president under her Renewed Hope Initiative Social Investment Programme to support their businesses.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU