Ogun governor in Nigeria says 100,000 women have received support
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun said that around 100,000 women in the state have benefited from the World Bank-supported Nigeria for Women Programme. He made the statement during a meeting with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed at the Governor’s Office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Premium Times Nigeria reports.
According to Abiodun, the state authorities joined the initiative to reach women at the local level who could otherwise be left outside traditional mechanisms of political and economic empowerment. He said the programme provides resources, skills and opportunities to create sustainable sources of income, support families and develop communities.
The governor also said that delegations from more than 25 Nigerian states had visited Ogun to study the local model for implementing the programme. He expressed hope that the initiative would expand to all 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory.
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Participation in the programme
The state programme coordinator, Bola Fadairo, said Ogun was among the first six pilot states where the initiative was launched in 2020. According to her, the state exceeded the programme’s target by 105%.
Fadairo said that 8,759 women’s groups were established across all 20 local government areas of the state, bringing together 247,273 women. Participants received training in financial management, bookkeeping, gender awareness, life skills and other areas needed to develop sustainable sources of income.
Assessment by the UN representative
Amina Mohammed praised the allocation of start-up funding for the programme and the state authorities’ support for women. She said the participants had demonstrated resilience, creativity and entrepreneurship, and also announced her intention to present Ogun’s experience in her home state.
