Approximately 250 persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Nasarawa State have benefited from the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Economic Empowerment Programme, a flagship poverty-alleviation effort championed by Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
The disbursement exercise, held on Wednesday in Lafia, saw each beneficiary receive N200,000, intended to support business startups, expand existing enterprises, and improve livelihoods among vulnerable and less privileged citizens.
Senator Oluremi, represented at the event by Hauwa Jugbo, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Humanitarian Services, described the programme as a continuation of her commitment to the welfare of PWDs.
She emphasised that the initiative forms part of a broader national agenda to promote inclusive growth and shared prosperity under the Renewed Hope agenda.
“Each state of the federation, the FCT, and the Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association is being allocated N50 million, amounting to N1.9 billion overall,” Oluremi noted.
She highlighted that similar empowerment gestures had been extended to all 36 states and the FCT.
Mrs Tinubu also recalled that in the last two years, that more then 100,000 women petty traders and small business owners, including PWDs, have received direct financial support to grow their businesses.
The First Lady further announces that the RHI Governing Board had resolved to make the economic empowerment programme for PWDs an annual event, to be held every December 3 in commemoration of the International Day of Persons With Disabilities.
Speaking at the event, Silifat Sule, wife of Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, commended the First Lady for her consistent support to the state over the past two years.
She confirmed that beneficiaries were carefully selected from all 13 Local Government Areas to ensure equitable distribution across the state.
Sule urged the recipients to utilize the funds prudently to improve their lives and those of their families.
Salah Barde, Executive Secretary of the Nasarawa State Disability Rights Commission, speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, expressed gratitude to both the First Lady and the state governor’s wife.
He assured that the commission would monitor the use of the grants to ensure they were invested in productive ventures rather than non-productive expenditures.
The initiative is seen as a crucial step toward eradicating extreme poverty and enhancing economic inclusion for persons with disabilities in Nasarawa State, providing a model that could inspire similar empowerment programmes across Nigeria.
