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From Abel Leonard
The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to improving the economic fortunes, political representation, and social wellbeing of women, with the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, announcing fresh interventions targeting women across the country.
The minister gave the assurance on Tuesday in Lafia during a pre-rally empowerment programme organised on the directive of the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, as part of efforts to mobilise grassroots women and strengthen their economic capacity.
At the event, thousands of women across Nasarawa State benefited from the distribution of empowerment items, including refrigerators, sewing machines, grinding machines and cash support.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the intervention reflected the Federal Government’s determination to place women’s economic advancement and social welfare at the centre of national development.
She disclosed that the administration was also working towards introducing free menstrual hygiene products for women and girls, following the development of a national menstrual hygiene policy.
According to her, President Bola Tinubu believes that access to menstrual hygiene products should receive attention similar to other essential public health interventions.
“Now we have a menstrual hygiene policy. Very soon, we’ll have free female hygiene products. In Nigeria, the President said that the way we continue, we have free condoms, we must also have free menstrual pads, because women must menstruate every month,” she said.
The minister further revealed that an executive bill was being developed to promote women’s participation in governance, with a target of achieving more than 35 per cent representation in political appointments and elected positions.
She said the proposed legislation was part of broader efforts to address the persistent underrepresentation of women in decision-making positions.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim explained that the delegation was in Nasarawa on the specific instruction of the First Lady to provide grassroots empowerment and reassure women of the administration’s commitment to their economic and social welfare.
“We are here on the directive of Her Excellency, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. She sent us here to come and do a pre-rally empowerment for the women, to excite them and reiterate her commitment to the economic empowerment of our women and their social welfare and wellbeing,” she said.
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She added that more productive equipment and other empowerment opportunities were being planned for women, urging beneficiaries to make productive use of the support.
The minister also described the administration’s declaration of 2026 as the Year of Families as an indication of its recognition of the family as the foundation of society.
Also speaking, the APC National Women Leader and Director of the party’s Women Presidential Campaign Council, Dr Mary Alile Idele, called on women in Nasarawa to support the continuation of the Tinubu administration.
Idele said the Renewed Hope Agenda had recorded achievements in education, healthcare and infrastructure, which, according to her, should be sustained beyond the current administration.
“The message to the women of Nasarawa State is simple. His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his Renewed Hope Agenda that has done for the past three and a half years, we want continuity. That is the message for our women,” she said.
Hosting the delegation, the First Lady of Nasarawa State, Hajiya Silifat Abdullahi Sule, commended the Federal Government for extending empowerment programmes and other social interventions to women in the state.
She particularly acknowledged Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s interest in educational development and community-based infrastructure, including solar-powered libraries.
Silifat Sule urged mothers to remain vigilant in their homes and protect young people from being exploited for political or criminal activities.
The delegation also visited markets and hospitals as part of the outreach, where financial assistance, business equipment and healthcare interventions were extended to women.
The programme covered beneficiaries in maternity wards, local markets and small-scale businesses. Selected market traders received specialised business kiosks, while between 100 and 200 women were given N100,000 each as additional business capital.
