Maureen Okpe
In a bid to alleviate the plight and enhance economic advantage for Nigerian women, the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye have launched free registration of businesses.
The Ministry in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment through the scheme seek to explore means to provide women with economic skills and empowerment.
The scheme is set to assist vulnerable women register their businesses, as well as be equipped with Point On Sale,POS machines.
According to Barr. Kennedy-Ohanenye “We will be giving out free POS, 37,000, there is no way they would have afforded the N10,500 for registration.
“The ministry had to write to Trade and Investment to assist these women as part of the grant the Federal government is giving and they have accepted to do that.
“Our main mission to to save and protect the lives of women and children and men are part of our children, that is why our job is to save and protect our nation. Feed the nation, that is why we have gone into farming, POS, juice making.
“We are going into so many things, off what people used to think is the role of Ministry of women affairs, we are eager to do the right thing.
“These business will give them money daily, feed and provide finance to take their children to school and give them the voice that they do not have.
“If monies are brought to Nigeria in the name of the Nigerian vulnerable, should be accounted for, use it for where impact will be made, if there are no impact the monies are useless to the nation and the more you pump in useless money into the nation the more our economy cannot survive. Whatever we have to do we have to put aside the bottle necks and forge ahead.”
On her part, Director Plug Platforms Limited and Plug Microfinance Bank, Okiemute Akoko
commended the ministry on the efforts made so far, noting, “we want to make our lives better, we hear the issues about the vulnerable, the under aged and persons with disabilities and we stand against it.
“As long as we can help people, we are willing to go ahead with that,this is phenomenal, this is what empowerment is about.”