“Women and children constitute 70 percent of our population and by addressing their challenges, we are taking bold steps towards achieving the renewed hope policy thrust of Mr. President”.

These words formed part of my response when I received the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Mrs Delu Yakubu who led her team to my office earlier today. I was super impressed when our discussions dove-tailed towards building common grounds for collaboration with the Ministry on skill acquisition and vocational training for women using the Ministry’s National Centre for Women Development as platform to activate training in different vocations for women. I am personally thrilled by this aspect because the Ministry has already taken initial steps in this direction but with the involvement of the Presidency, I am optimistic that we can create pathways towards economic independence for women and give them voice as stakeholders in nation building.
I also told my guests that the Ministry is already reached advanced stage on a multi-pronged event on 7th march 2024 at the State House Banquet which will witness formal launch of an E-Market portal tagged PBAT Cares for Women which will provide a one-stop-shop as convergence point for buyers, sellers, farmers, manufacturers, NGOs and other relevant players to rebuild the trust of Nigerians on economic independence, the portal will provide platform for seamless business ventures for the women who will operate as Cooperatives, they will be paid online for their products and this will ensure that they get their monies direct.
Aside from other initiatives, I also hinted them that an Integrity Brigade will be inaugurated same day to monitor and ensure that funds meant for Nigerians get to the supposed beneficiaries and with the support of traditional rulers, the structures we set up in the form of sustainable empowerment for women at the grassroots, will be used judiciously. The Brigade will also be on the lookout to ensure judicious utilization of donor funds meant for Nigerian.