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By Zika Bobby
The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to women’s economic protection and productivity with the commissioning of the Osusu Abaala Women Palm-Oil Collective and a new Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Isialangwa North, Abia State.
The dual launch was performed by Governor Alex Otti and the First Lady of the state, alongside the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman Ibrahim.
The event was attended by representatives from the World Bank, the European Union, and traditional leaders. Governor Otti, while declaring the palm-oil collective open, lauded the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and its development partners for deepening grassroots economic inclusion. He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to policies that enhance productivity, support smallholder women farmers, and strengthen cooperative-based enterprise systems across Abia State.
Speaking at the event, Sulaiman Ibrahim described the commissioning as a significant milestone in rural productivity, inclusive economic development, and structured women’s enterprise. She noted that the Collective demonstrates how organised women, when supported with structure, skills, and market linkages, can transition from fragmented informal activity into coordinated, market-oriented production systems that strengthen household incomes and local economies.
She explained that the Nigeria for Women Programme was designed to dismantle longstanding structural barriers limiting women’s access to finance, markets, skills, and social capital. Phase I, implemented between 2018 and 2024 across the six geo-political zones, recorded measurable gains in income growth, savings mobilisation, enterprise development, and collective action.
Building on this success, the Federal Government has commenced a national scale-up phase aimed at reaching at least five million women across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory as part of a coordinated strategy on livelihoods, food security, and inclusive growth.
The minister stated that the expansion aligns with the Renewed Hope Social Impact Interventions, 774 framework, which integrates women’s economic empowerment, food security, social protection, and family resilience across all local government areas nationwide.
The minister urged the women beneficiaries to manage the facility with transparency, discipline, and accountability, stressing that improved processing capacity and stronger market linkages should significantly enhance productivity, bargaining power, and incomes.
She emphasised that structured enterprise and collective ownership remain critical to sustainable prosperity.
The minister also formally launched a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Abia State, which was jointly declared open by Governor Otti and his wife.
The event drew participation from state executives, justice sector actors, civil society organisations, and international partners, including the World Bank and the European Union.
Describing the centre as a strategic intervention to strengthen Nigeria’s response to gender-based violence, the minister noted that such violence remains pervasive and underreported, increasingly manifesting in both physical and digital forms.
She said as of November 2025, Nigeria had established 50 Sexual Assault Referral Centres across 24 states, collectively assisting 58,134 survivors. While acknowledging progress, she stressed that more coordinated systems are needed to match the scale and evolving complexity of the challenge.
The newly launched centre will provide confidential and integrated services, including medical care, psychosocial support, legal referral, and coordinated access to justice within a survivor-centred framework.
She warned that fragmented responses often compound trauma and weaken justice outcomes, underscoring the need for structured and institutionalised protection systems.
The minister also highlighted emerging threats such as cyberstalking, digital coercion, online trafficking, image-based abuse, and coordinated digital harassment, stating that institutional responses must adapt to address technology-facilitated violence.
