No fewer than 250 Persons with Disabilities in Ebonyi State have received N200,000 each from the Renewed Hope Initiative of the first lady, Oluremi Tinubu. The beneficiaries also got one bag of rice each as part of the support package.
The empowerment was inaugurated in Abakaliki on Wednesday, with Mrs Tinubu represented by Mary-Maudline Nwifuru, wife of the Ebonyi governor. She said the scheme under the Social Investment programme was created to provide essential needs for PWDs across the country.
She described the event as significant, coming as the world marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. According to her, the 2025 theme, Fostering Disability Inclusive Society for Advancing Social Progress, connects strongly with the motive of the initiative.
She added that a special school for the blind in the state would receive N1 million and five 25kg bags of rice. “Today, PWDs benefited from the RHI programme in the state and across the country,” she said. “The governing board has resolved to mark the economic empowerment programme for PWDs as an annual event and in commemoration of the day.”
Mrs Tinubu noted that the programme provided N200,000 business recapitalisation grants to 250 PWDs in Ebonyi to support more business owners and strengthen means of livelihood. She further stated that each state of the federation, the defence and police officers’ wives association would receive N50 million to distribute to beneficiaries.
She explained that the empowerment aligned with the vision of President Bola Tinubu under the Renewed Hope Initiative, aimed at promoting inclusive growth among citizens.
In her remarks, Mrs Nwifuru, who is also the state coordinator of RHI, was represented by Felicia Nwankpuma, commissioner for women affairs and social development. She commended the wife of the president for extending the programme to Ebonyi State.
Mrs Nwifuru said the initiative aligned with the state government’s People’s Charter of Needs agenda and her personal project, the BERWO foundation, which supports vulnerable groups. She said the 2025 theme reflected commitments of the government to inclusion, protection and empowerment. “For inclusion and equality, let us use the celebration to strengthen our resolve for the group,” she said.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, Chieme Odumegwu, state chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, appreciated Mrs Tinubu for what she described as a gesture of kindness and passion. Ms Odumegwu appealed to the state government to assent to the disability rights law to prohibit discrimination against PWDs in all areas of life.
