The Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has commended the First Lady’s Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) program for empowering Nigerian women across the 36 states and the FCT. According to Orelope-Adefulire, the donation of items across the country initiative is a bold step towards unlocking the potential of women, fostering economic independence, and creating opportunities for them to thrive.

“Today’s programme is not just about distributing empowerment items; it is about unlocking potential, fostering economic independence and creating opportunities for women to thrive,” Orelope-Adefulire said. “By equipping 500 women per state and the FCT with tools such as gas cookers, generators, deep freezers and grinding machines, we are strengthening their capacity to build sustainable livelihoods and contribute meaningfully to inclusive national development.”

Orelope-Adefulire noted that the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs) has, over the years, strengthened efforts at empowering women and children, including the construction and equipping of 66 Skills Acquisition Centres and Transit Homes for women and girls across the country. These centres were supported with over 4,800 computers for ICT training.

The First Lady’s RHI program has been hailed as a beacon of empowerment and economic transformation, aligning seamlessly with Nigeria’s national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Orelope-Adefulire reaffirmed the President’s commitment to the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria.

Some of the beneficiaries, including Mrs Khadijat Abdullahi from Okehi, Mrs Hannah Mohammed from Ibaji, and Dorcas Olayemi from Kabba-Bunu LGA, expressed their gratitude to the federal government for the gesture. “This is the first time we are experiencing this kind of gesture to truly eradicate poverty at the grassroots, it will go a long way to improve our wellbeing and livelihoods,” Olayemi said.

The highlight of the occasion was the symbolic presentation of empowerment items to beneficiaries by Mrs Ododo on behalf of the Nigeria’s First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu.