Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Initiative awarded ₦10 million to 20 female farmers in Rivers State to improve agricultural output.
The project intends to make food items more affordable in order to reduce the country’s high inflation rate.
Lady Valerie Fubara, wife of Rivers State Governor, presented ₦500,000 cheques to each of the 20 women at an event at the government house in Port Harcourt on behalf of the president’s wife.
Mrs. Fubara encouraged the women to use the donation to expand their existing farms in order to reach the first lady’s aim.
She cautioned the beneficiaries that the money they were given now might not be enough to promote their sector investments. Nonetheless, she stated that it reflected the efforts of a genuinely caring mother who refused to sit back and watch her children suffer.
She said, “It is a seed investment in your agricultural businesses that is backed by the prayers of the founder for you to succeed. So, I urge you to make the best use of it”.
Lady Fubara further said: “You owe it as a sacred duty to ensure that these investments lead to increased and improved harvests from our farms in the next few months.
“I urge you to be frugal in the use of this seed money, and see it as a call from the Wife of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to assist in building a strong support base for the agricultural revolution in Nigeria.”
Lady Fubara stated that, in addition to the cheques delivered to the first batch of 20 recipients of the Renewed Hope Initiative Women in Agriculture Support scheme, 80 more beneficiaries will be accommodated in following phases of the scheme, as ordered by the board.
“In the recent past, the Renewed Hope Initiative, through its Rivers State Office, has flagged off its support for the elderly; presented exercise books to school children, through the Ministry of Education and State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB); and some measures of support to ease the burden of families.
“A son of the State has also benefited from the Belarus RHI International Scholarship. This gesture, no matter how little, has been greatly appreciated by the recipients, and I cannot thank Her Excellency, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, enough for her foresight and commitment to this vision.”
Speaking on the effort of the Rivers State Government to agriculture, the state first lady said the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has commenced the review of agricultural policies to mitigate the challenges experienced in the sector.
She emphasised that the state government is also committed to reviving State-owned agricultural intervention schemes such as the Songhai Integrated Farms, with encouragement to private investors to participate in the ongoing transformation in the sector.
The Women in Agriculture Support Program is the third empowerment program after the schemes for the elderly and students, since the inauguration of the pet project in the state earlier this year
