Tinubu donates N100m to empower 2,000 Benue women, opens ICT centre

Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s First Lady, on Tuesday, donated N100 million to empower 2,000 women involved in petty trading in Makurdi and Vandeikya Local Government areas of Benue State as she commissioned a new National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Community ICT Centre.

The First Lady disclosed this at the Governor’s home town, Ihugh in Vandeikya Local Government area of Benue State, during the official commissioning of the NITDA, Community ICT Centre, named it after Lucy Zayol Aluor.

The First Lady congratulated the Director-General of NITDA, Inuwa Abdullahi, and his team for “impactful efforts in bridging the digital gap across the nation” through collaboration with the Renewed Hope Initiative under the Social Investment Programme.

She disclosed that the Makurdi Centre was the fourth NITDA Community ICT Centre commissioned under the partnership and 15th across States like Abia, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Jigawa, FCT, Kwara, and Ondo States.

She said, “The knowledge of ICT serves as a significant tool for empowering communities, especially women, enabling them to break into new opportunities.”

These centres have been fully equipped with computers and other ICT materials courtesy of NITDA, and urged members of the community to take full ownership of the facility.

In the spirit of the event, Tinubu announced a N100 million empowerment package for women traders in Benue.

“The Renewed Hope Initiative will provide a N50,000 recapitalisation grant to 1,000 women to support their existing petty trading businesses.

“In addition, another N50 million will be given to Makurdi and environs to support another 1,000 women.

“In total, we’ll be empowering 2,000 women with petty trading businesses”, she declared.

The First Lady said the support aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to accelerate economic diversification through industrialisation and digitalisation.

She extended appreciation to Governor Hyacinth Alia, whom she called “a father” to Benue, for his cooperation.

Governor Alia, who joined the First Lady at the commissioning, said the ICT centre and women empowerment grants would deepen digital inclusion and boost livelihoods for Benue women.

“The commissioning of this project by the mother of the country has brought great honour for the Benue people. “On behalf of the government and good people of the State, thank you for honouring our community”, he said.

The governor described the Community ICT Centre as a transformational site for the Ihugh surrounding communities, and the entire State.