From Olanrewaju Lawal Birnin Kebbi
The Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has disbursed N70 million to 140 women farmers in the North West Region.
20 women in agriculture from the seven states in the zone went home with N500, 000 each, disbursed under the Renewed Hope Initiative Women Agricultural Support Programme of the First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
She also disbursed N100, 000 each to 100 persons living with disabilities in the region.
Tinubu while speaking at the disbursement ceremony held in Birnin Kebbi, said the maiden edition of the scheme was launched in February this year in Imo state which was aimed at encouraging women farmers to grow more food in line with the agricultural agenda of the Tinubu administration.
The first Lady,who was represented by the Wife of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Hajiya Fatima Tajuddeen Abbas, affirmed commitment to energies women in agriculture to improve production including animal husbandry.
According to her, “Agriculture plays pivotal role in achieving sustainable development and food security”, she emphasised.
“Consequently, we are introducing ‘Every Home a Garden’ competition to encourage each Nigerian woman cultivate a garden at home to feed the family and share with neighbours, we want to see food on every table”.
She disclosed that the winner of the competition would pocket N20 million star prize.
Tinubu explained about plans to introduce the formation of Young Farmers Club in primary and secondary Schools nationwide to encourage farming awareness among pupils and students towards self sufficiency.
“Schools with the best farms will be identified and rewarded”, she announced.
In his remarks, the Wife of the Kebbi State Governor, Hajiya Zainab Nasare Nasir Idris, said in support of the initiative of the First Lady, she has donated solar powered water pump to each of the benefitting women farmers from the zone to boost their yields.
She thanked Senator Oluremi Tinubu for her magnanimity and the choice of Kebbi State to launch the programme for the North West Region.
Speaking at the ceremony,Kebbi State Governor, Dr.Nasir Idris announced that his administration has expended enormous amount of money on the procurement of fertiliser, solar and CNG powered water pumps as well as other agricultural inputs which were distributed free to farmers to strengthen agricultural production in the state.
He said that his government would continue to provide an enabling environment to support the participation of women in agriculture including access to market finance and technology for food security.
The ceremony was attended by wives of the Governor’s of Sokoto,Zamfara,Kaduna,Jigawa and Kano states who also gave goodwill messages.