The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs), in partnership with the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), has empowered 4,500 indigent and vulnerable women across the five South-East states with commercial equipment and financial grants.
The joint intervention was officially unveiled in Owerri, Imo State recently during the South-East zonal flag-off of the RHI Women Economic Empowerment Programme. While the zonal ceremony took place in Owerri, simultaneous distributions were conducted across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, and Enugu states. Under the core framework, 500 pre-selected women from each of the five states received vital business assets. The reach of the program in Imo State was further expanded through an intervention by Governor Hope Uzodimma, who sponsored an additional 2,000 local beneficiaries.
To further accelerate business sustainability, Nigeria’s First Lady and Chairman of the Renewed Hope Initiative, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, presented a direct cash grant of ₦100,000 to each of the 2,500 core beneficiaries in Imo State, totaling ₦250 million. The economic empowerment packages distributed across the region included: Industrial grinding machines, Commercial deep-chest freezers, Maxi gas cookers equipped with ovens and Power generation units.
In her keynote address, Senator Oluremi Tinubu emphasized that the initiative equips women with productive assets to enhance household livelihoods and support grassroots economic stability. She noted that the South-East exercise forms part of a larger nationwide rollout targeting 18,500 vulnerable women across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. She highlighted that fostering women’s financial independence remains vital to advancing Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
“Let these items serve as a foundation for creating a better life for yourselves and your families,” Senator Tinubu stated, urging recipients to utilize the assets strategically to boost household incomes.
Speaking on the strategic vision of the intervention, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, OFR, described the event as a core manifestation of the principle of Leaving No One Behind. She explained that the target demographic comprises widows, wives of fallen heroes, and indigent women possessing entrepreneurial drive.
“Our objective extends beyond equipment distribution; we are delivering productive assets designed to unlock potential, foster economic self-reliance, and yield sustainable household security,” Orelope-Adefulire noted. She further emphasized that empowering women accelerates progress across multiple global benchmarks, including SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). She strongly cautioned beneficiaries against liquidating the equipment, urging them to deploy the assets strictly for venture creation and business expansion.
In his remarks, Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, commended the First Lady and OSSAP-SDGs for delivering tangible economic lifelines to vulnerable citizens. He affirmed that investing in women yields immediate multiplier effects for household welfare and local business ecosystems.
Echoing this commitment, the Wife of the Imo State Governor and RHI State Coordinator, Barrister Chioma Uzodimma, confirmed that the additional state-sponsored equipment packages will be systematically distributed across Imo’s three senatorial districts—Okigwe, Orlu, and Owerri—to ensure equitable economic impact.
The South-East flag-off follows the successful completion of earlier program phases across the North-Central, South-South, and South-West geopolitical zones.
Jimoh O. Abdulsalam
Head, Communications
OSSAP-SDGs
