MRS. ABIODUN CHARGES BENEFICIARIES ON JUDICIOUS USE OF GRANT

By Abiola Obadina, Abeokuta

 Beneficiaries of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) Agricultural Support Programme of the First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, have been charged to judiciously utilise the grants disbursed to them in boosting food sufficiency and security.

Wife of the Ogun State Governor and state Coordinator of RHI, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, gave the charge during the disbursement and interactive session with 20 beneficiaries drawn from all the Local Government Areas in the state, at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, explaining that the exercise was in fulfilment of the promise of N10 million per state, of which each of the beneficiaries would receive N500,000 each, to boost food production in the state.

 "The disbursement is in accordance with the directive of Wife of the President to support 20 women farmers from the state with N500,000.00 each to encourage women involvement in the agricultural sector", she said.

Earlier, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Hon. Bolu Owotomo, maintained that the event was in furtherance to government’s commitment to promote and empower women in the sector, towards ensuring adequate food production in the state and the country at large.

Hon. Owotomo added that achieving a sustainable development in agriculture plays a critical role in ensuring food sufficiency, saying that RHI was to assist women-farmers to strengthen the sector.

He admonished them to maximally utilize the gesture to meet the purpose it was meant for, advising them to form a cluster and register with Ogun State Economic Transformation Project, to further benefit from other government interventions to increase food production and improve their livelihood.

  In their separate remarks, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agriculture, Dr. Angel Adelaja and Permanent Secretary, Mr Samuel Adeogun, noted that the role of women in agriculture could not be over emphasised, promising to give necessary support to ensure that they were not left out in various intervention programmes, to enable them improve their agriculture business. 

Responding on behalf of other female farmers, a fish farmer, Mrs. Elizabeth Kalejaye and a poultry farmer, Mrs. Temitope Kelani, applauded the initiative, enthusing that the money would be used to expand their businesses.