The Wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji, has called on stakeholders to intensify support for programmes targeted at improving the lives of women and other vulnerable groups, stressing the need for collaborative efforts to achieve sustainable development.
Dr. Oyebanji made the call in Ado-Ekiti while receiving a delegation from the Ogun State Project Coordinating Unit of the Nigeria For Women Project (NFWP), which is currently in Ekiti State on a peer-to-peer support visit following the commencement of the programme in the state.
She noted that although the NFWP was recently introduced in Ekiti State, the government and her office had earlier implemented similar empowerment initiatives, including the Widows, Aged, Orphans and Hope (WAOH) Project and the Adire Ekiti Empowerment Programme, through which thousands of beneficiaries have been supported.
The First Lady commended the NFWP team for its commitment to inclusive and women-centred development and pledged her full support for the successful implementation of the programme in Ekiti State, noting that its objectives align with her social welfare and economic empowerment priorities.
Earlier, the Ogun State Project Coordinator of NFWP, Mrs. Bolanle Fadairo, explained that the programme focuses on empowering small-scale female entrepreneurs through access to loans, skills training, and business development support provided via the Community Investment Fund (CIF).
She disclosed that the initiative is designed to reach about 90,000 women through equipment support and the formation of Women Affinity Groups (WAGs).
In their goodwill messages, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Peju Babafemi, and the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Olusola Adeluyi-Femi, commended the First Lady for her consistent interventions targeted at vulnerable groups, particularly through the WAOH Project.
The duo further disclosed that the NFWP delegation would visit Efon, Moba and Aiyekire Local Government Areas as part of its engagements aimed at strengthening community-level implementation of the programme.
The NFWP Ekiti State team, led by Mrs. Oluwatoyin Familoni, was also present at the meeting.