Ogun State has recorded a major milestone in women empowerment with the formation of 1,613 Women Affinity Groups under the Nigeria for Women Project Scale-Up (NFWP-SU), positioning the state as a national reference point for inclusive grassroots development.
Following this achievement, delegations from nine other states of the federation are currently on a study visit to Ogun State to understudy its implementation model and learn from its approach to women-focused interventions.
The State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Motunrayo Adijat Adeleye, disclosed this while addressing officials from the visiting states during the Implementation Support Mission for Southern States held in Abeokuta.
Adeleye attributed the success of the project to the sustained commitment of the Ogun State Government under the leadership of Governor Dapo Abiodun, as well as the wide acceptance of the project’s vision by community leaders, traditional rulers, and market groups. She also highlighted the ingenuity of the project team through effective planning and execution.
She said, “Women Affinity Groups are the backbone of the Nigeria for Women Project Scale-Up Project (NFWP-SU) because they provide the primary platform through which women are mobilised, empowered, and reached at the grassroots.
“They foster trust, collective savings, peer learning, and accountability, enabling women to access financial literacy, business support, and livelihood opportunities in an inclusive and sustainable way.
“By strengthening social capital and giving women a collective voice, affinity groups ensure effective programme delivery, ownership, and long-term impact of NFWP-SU interventions within implementing Local Government Areas.”
The commissioner noted that the present administration has consistently shown strong belief in women’s ability to contribute meaningfully to economic and social development, providing the necessary policy support and institutional backing for women-focused initiatives to succeed.
According to her, “Although the Nigeria for Women Project commenced in 2018, the present administration not only sustained the initiative but strengthened it through the Scale-Up phase.
“I am glad to always describe the Governor’s approach as a practical demonstration of the ‘He for She’ principle. His support for women empowerment has been evident through concrete actions rather than mere declarations.”
Adeleye disclosed that Ogun State has exceeded benchmarks at the Scale-Up stage, becoming the only participating state to surpass the formation of 1,000 Women Affinity Groups, with the figure now approaching 1,700.
She said, “Our feat in Ogun NFWP-SU reflects both effective programme execution and the growing confidence of women across communities in the initiative, so I commended the Nigeria for Women Project Scale-Up team in Ogun State, led by the State Project Coordinator, Mrs. Bolanle Fadairo, for their dedication and professionalism.
“It explained that the team’s efforts from the pilot phase through scale-up have been central to mobilising women, strengthening group cohesion, and sustaining grassroots engagement.”
The commissioner added that the willingness of women to form additional groups beyond the prescribed limits underscores their strong buy-in and belief in the impact of the project.
She explained that the experience in Ogun State reinforces the principle that investing in women leads to broader societal progress, noting that the state is already witnessing developmental gains from empowering women at scale.
In her remarks, the State Project Coordinator, Mrs. Fadairo Bolanle, described the engagement with the visiting states as a moment of active interaction for the project team with delegations of officials from the Federal Government, Ekiti, Abia, Kwara, Kogi, Delta, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Anambra, and Ondo States.
She added that the project has recorded a total of 1,613 Women Affinity Groups for the Scale-Up Project, which commenced in September 2025.
Fadairo noted that the understudy mission would further motivate the project team to intensify its activities, with the aim of surpassing the expectations of implementing partners while ensuring a more responsive and inclusive women empowerment model across communities.
