By DAPO FALADE
Wife of the Oyo State governor, Engineer Tamunominini Makinde, has said the state will soon roll out a programme to empower women across the 33 local government areas and 35 local vouncil development areas in the state.
The programme, according to her, is in sync with the commitment of the Governor Seyi Makinde-led governmeny to empower women and give them a new lease of life.
Mrs Makinde, who stated this during separate meetings with women leaders from the 33 local councils and women from eight major markets in the state, declared that she would knock on every door to ensure that women in the state secure financial support and empowerment without imposing any financial constraint on them.
In a statement, on Wednesday, from the Office of the Wive of the Governor, she said: “I want you to know that the present administration has the interest of women at heart because, as I said, women play a vital role in the society.
“We have been talking to a number of financial institutions, very reputable ones. They promised to get back to us shortly with programmes that will be beneficial to our women.
“We are mindful of the harmful effects of loan schemes like ‘gbomule lantern,’ which place the livelihood of many women in jeopardy. So, we are instituting programmes with human face.
“Empowerment programmes will soon be rolled out by the government, which all women will benefit from. Also, we are working to collaborate with banks, corporate bodies, and other sponsors.”
She said her office would collaborate with the government to make life better for the womenfolk, stating that meetings were held where women leaders spoke on the challenges facing women in general and gave recommendations on how to surmount the problems, would help her familiarise with the challenges facing women in the state.
Mrs. Makinde also used the opportunity to educate women more on how to continue to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that the “virus is real and still very much around.”
Similarly, she rallied women in the state to become more alert to the menace of rape and gender-based violence and to rise against them and any form of abuse against children by “saying something when they see something.”
She said: “My staff members in the office can tell you, for the first few months of my assumption of office, I had almost all the banks in Nigeria flocking to my office, looking for how to partner with me. All they were saying bordered on how to give microfinance loans at a low rate.
‘And I told them that I would not mortgage the future of our women by driving them to take loans. I told them that if I mortgage our women to come and borrow money, when are they going to pay back?
“So, I asked them to go look at their grants and come back and give whatever they can give to our women. I have already started talking on your behalf. I do not support microfinance, because I have motherly feelings for our children.
“We don’t want our children to be hungry. We don’t want them to go outside without clothes. We don’t want our house to be scattered. So, we will put our money in our homes.
“I have told some banks that came around that they should go and come back with the token they have for our women. I don’t even want it in my hands. They should just tell me how much. We will arrange it and give it to our women.”
In their separate responses, the Ekerin Iyaloja of Ibadanland, Sango Market, Chief (Mrs.) Borode Omotayo and Iyaloja of Apata Market, Alhaja Wulemotu Olaosebikan, commended Mrs. Makinde and the state government on the distribution of palliatives to market women.
They added that market women and the womenfolk in the state were happy to hear of the planned empowerment programme and that they were looking forward to its commencement.
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