Ondo communities embrace Nigeria for women programme scale-up

…Monarchs commend grassroots approach, urge transparency, accountability

…Women express readiness to join Women Affinity Groups

Communities across Ilaje, Akure North and Akoko North-West Local Government Areas of Ondo State have embraced the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up (NFWP-SU), with traditional rulers and community members commending its grassroots-driven approach to women’s economic empowerment.

The acceptance followed sensitisation visits by the project team to traditional palaces, markets and communities across the three pilot local government areas to educate women on the programme’s objectives and encourage their participation in Women Affinity Groups (WAGs).

The initiative seeks to empower women to organise themselves into groups based on shared interests and relationships, develop savings and lending habits, and improve their livelihoods through collective economic activities.

In Ilaje Local Government Area, the council chairman, Hon. Maurice Oripenaiye, who received the project team alongside members of the council’s management, pledged the local government’s support for the successful implementation of the programme.

Oripenaiye said development initiatives driven by the people were more likely to achieve meaningful results than those designed without adequate community involvement.

He noted that the programme’s approach, which allows women to own and manage their groups with the support of trained ward facilitators, would promote participation and improve its impact.

He said the local government would support the initiative, describing it as consistent with the development agenda of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, Oba Frederick Akinruntan; the Olu of Igbokoda, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo; the Amapetu of Mahin, Oba Oluwasegun Akinyomi; the Regent of Ereke Kingdom, Princess Victoria Oguntibeju; the Monehin of Obinehin, Oba Williams Kajeijaye; and the Odede of Igboegunrin, Oba Philips Kajejaye, were among the traditional rulers who received the project team.

The monarchs commended the programme’s non-partisan approach and urged the implementing team to ensure that women across their communities were adequately reached.

They also pledged to mobilise women to participate in the initiative.

Beyond the palace visits, the project team conducted sensitisation activities in markets and other public spaces across Ilaje Local Government Area.

At the Igbokoda International Market, women asked questions about the programme and expressed their readiness to join the Women Affinity Groups.

In Akoko North-West Local Government Area, traditional rulers also welcomed the initiative, while calling for its effective implementation and equitable distribution of benefits.

The monarchs included the Owa of Ogbagi-Akoko, Oba Victor Olasehinde Adetona; the Zaki of Arigidi-Akoko, Oba (Dr.) Yisa Abu Olanipekun; the Onirun of Irun, Oba Samuel Bayode Agboola; the Aláfìn of Àfìn-Akoko, Oba (Professor) Abdulraheem Mustapha Adejoro, represented by the Aremo of Àfìn-Akoko, High Chief Muraina Kilani; and the Osunla of Erusu, Oba Sunday Olaniyi Mogaji (Imole I).

The traditional rulers urged the programme team to extend its activities to every community in the local government area to ensure that no eligible woman was left out.

However, the monarchs expressed concerns over previous empowerment programmes which, they said, had failed to deliver promised benefits, with some allegedly defrauding intended beneficiaries.

They called on the Federal and Ondo State Governments to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the NFWP-SU, stressing that the initiative should deliver tangible improvements in women’s economic well-being rather than raise expectations without fulfilling its promises.

They further emphasised the need for effective monitoring and fair access to programme benefits for women across all communities in the local government area.

Similarly, in Akure North Local Government Area, the project team visited communities to sensitise residents on the programme and its implementation process.

The Regent of Oba-Ile, Princess Adefoluke Veronica Agunbiade-Adu; the Asinigbo of Isinigbo, Oba Adu Omotayo; and the Olu of Ilu-Abo, Oba Oluyemi Falae, were among the traditional rulers who commended the programme’s approach.

The monarchs stressed the importance of involving community members in their own development and urged the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, the implementing agency, to ensure the programme was diligently executed for the benefit of women across the state.

With the support expressed by community leaders and residents across the three pilot local government areas, the programme team is expected to intensify efforts to mobilise women into Women Affinity Groups in line with the initiative’s guiding principles.

The programme’s grassroots approach is designed to encourage collective participation, strengthen women’s savings culture and support improved livelihoods through community-based groups.