Nigeria owes women economy worthy of their labour — Shettima

• Flags off women’s fund in Katsina

By Chesa Chesa

Vice President Kashim Shettima, has called for a more conducive business environment for Nigerian women, saying the country owes them an economy that is worthy of their labour.

Shettima made the call on Sunday in Katsina while flagging off the disbursement of the Community Investment Fund (CIF) under the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up (NFWP-SU) Project at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium.

He said more than 40,000 women in Katsina State were eligible to receive business capital after meeting the prescribed conditions and demonstrating satisfactory performance in savings and group activities.

According to the Vice President, the intervention was designed to address the challenge of inadequate capital faced by women entrepreneurs and strengthen their capacity to grow businesses and improve household incomes.

“Our daughters should inherit their mothers’ determination without inheriting every obstacle their mothers endured,” Shettima said.

He added: “We owe these women an economy worthy of their labour. They have carried heavy responsibilities with limited means; their ambition should now have more room to flourish.”

Shettima said the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration must translate into stronger businesses, increased purchasing power and improved living standards for Nigerians.

“For the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, economic reform must find expression in the earning capacity of citizens. We must connect national policy to the circumstances of the trader, the producer and the service provider,” he said.

He explained that the Community Investment Fund was designed to combine access to capital with training, financial literacy and productive resources through Women Affinity Groups.

“Money needs knowledge and organisation to produce lasting results,” the Vice President said, urging beneficiaries to maintain proper records, make prudent purchasing decisions and preserve the trust within their groups.

He also directed those administering the fund to ensure that eligibility remained the basis for accessing the intervention, without favouritism or political interference, and called for proper documentation of transactions.

The Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Umar Radda, said the state government had committed an additional N4 billion to the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up, bringing its total financial commitment to N8 billion.

Radda said the programme would expand economic opportunities for women across the state and improve their livelihoods.

He particularly highlighted the participation of women living with hearing impairment, describing the formation of affinity groups for them as an important step towards inclusion.

The governor also said the state government would complement the women-focused intervention with similar programmes targeting men, noting that empowering both men and women would strengthen household incomes and promote financial independence.

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Matthew Verghis, said Nigerian women were already making significant contributions across different sectors of the economy, but added that closing gender gaps would require deliberate action.

Verghis commended the Federal and Katsina State governments for identifying the economic needs of women and addressing them through empowerment initiatives.

He called on the private sector, community leaders and traditional institutions to support efforts to expand economic opportunities for women across the state.

Earlier, Shettima inaugurated 32 compressed natural gas-powered buses and 200 electric-powered tricycles under the Katsina State Comprehensive Urban Renewal Programme.

He also inaugurated several completed road projects undertaken by the state government to improve traffic flow, connectivity and urban mobility in the Katsina metropolis.

The Vice President also witnessed the reception of political decampees into the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by former Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Dr Mustapha Inuwa.
The decampees included eight National Assembly aspirants, 18 State House of Assembly aspirants and several political leaders from opposition parties.

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