Beneficiaries of the Nigeria for Women Project Scale-Up (NFWP-SU) in Zing Local Government Area of Taraba State, have demonstrated the transformative power of grassroots economic empowerment, with access to finance, skills and collective enterprise improving livelihoods and strengthening community resilience.
The achievement was highlighted during a ministerial field visit by the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, to assess implementation and impact of the programme.
The NFWP-SU in Taraba State has so far empowered more than 162,445 women, formed over 6,900 Women Affinity Groups (WAGs), disbursed ₦3.548 billion in livelihood grants and mobilised ₦2.388 billion in savings.
During the visit, the Minister, accompanied by the Deputy National Woman Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim, commended beneficiaries for embracing financial literacy, enterprise development, digital skills and life skills, while highlighting their enrolment in the Taraba State Contributory Health Care Scheme.
“I would like to applaud the comprehensive training received in financial literacy, in enterprise development, digital skills, dental life skills. I’d like to highlight the notable social achievements, including enroling 2,500 women in the Taraba State Contributory Health Care Scheme,” she said.
She urged beneficiaries to sustain peer mentoring, particularly as the programme expands into additional local government areas.
“Continue to mentor yourselves, because now we have new local governments. And they want to learn from you so that they can also do exceedingly well in their own programmes,” she stressed.
The Minister said the Federal Government remained committed to inclusive development, stressing that no woman should be excluded from opportunities created under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Earlier, Taraba State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Child Development, Mrs. Mary Sinjen, welcomed the delegation on behalf of Governor Agbu Kefas, describing the programme as a catalyst for women’s economic advancement.
She said the initiative had moved women from subsistence livelihoods into viable commercial agricultural enterprises, adding that the state’s 40 livelihood collectives demonstrated the impact of organising women, providing resources and building financial capacity.
The National project Coordinator of Nigeria for women programme, Dr Hadiza Maina, alongside the state project coordinator, Mr Isaac Yarafa, presented the implementation impacts so far.
Yarafa said Taraba has 40 livelihood collectives comprising 13 rice, 26 groundnut and one oil palm collective, with each having about 200 members, including persons living with disabilities.
For beneficiary Dina Onwuka of Tatale Group, the programme has brought tangible change.
Onwuka said support from the programme enabled her to acquire almost 30 goats and shoulder her family’s economic responsibilities.
“This Nigeria for Women programme has helped me greatly. I started my life so poor, from nothing but at the end of the day, because of Nigeria for Women, I am here really doing it. And so I say women, we should not be idle.”
The Ministerial visit reaffirms the Federal Government’s resolve to leave no woman behind as the programme expands across Taraba and other states.
