Niger Governor’s Wife: Three Years Of Impactful Support

Wife of the farmer governor and first lady of Niger State, Hajiya Fatima Umaru Bago has been supportive of her husband’s administration through the facilitation and initiation of various intervention and empowerment programmes, essentially targeted at women and children.

She has supported vulnerable households and strengthen small businesses across Niger State. Her Excellency, Hajiya Fatima Mohammed Bago empowered 250 petty traders and small-scale entrepreneurs with grants of N100,000 each, from the three senatorial districts of the State, designed to help expand their businesses, improve their livelihoods, and become more economically stable.

The First Lady also played a key role when 250 persons with disabilities in the state were supported with N200,000 each under the Renewed Hope Initiative economic empowerment programme, a national intervention project of the President’s wife, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu.

As the State Coordinator, Renewed Hope Initiative, the wife of the Governor, with the support of the Office of the first lady of the federation and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, flagged off a Women Economic Empowerment Programme where small business recapitalization, non-refundable grants of N50,000 were disbursed to 500 women in the state.

The intervention is part of the received N1 billion donation from Tony Elumelu Foundation to empower 18,500 women across the country, including the 500 beneficiaries from the state, aimed at uplifting economically disadvantaged women and small-scale entrepreneurs.

Her Excellency, Hajiya Fatima Mohammed Bago equally launched the the North Central SDGs/RHI Women Empowerment Programme for Zones B & C in Minna, comprising 17 Local Government Areas, following the successful launch in Bida for Zone A, aimed at providing women with essential business tools such as deep-chest freezers,maxi gas cookers with ovens, generators, and industrial grinding machines, to enhance their economic independence and improve their living standards.

Also, as the Girl-Child Ambassador for Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project in the North-Central Zone, Her Excellency flagged off the Girls Scholarship Programme and distributed assistive equipment such as eyeglasses, wheelchairs, and hearing aids to special needs students, reaffirming her commitment to promoting equity and access for all learners.

Hajiya Fatima Bago equally presented a cheque of Three Hundred and Forty-Eight Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty Thousand Naira (N348,880,000) to the AGILE Project, targeted at sponsoring the education of 8,722 girls across Niger State under the Girls Scholarship Programme.

In the spirit of compassion that defines the sacred seasons of Ramadan and Lent periods, Her Excellency, Hajiya Fatima Mohammed Bago, has consistently distributed palliative packages, including food and other household items to vulnerable groups and Associations across the State.

This onerous gesture is the first lady’s deep commitment to inclusive leadership and social protection, where she noted that at “a time when Muslim and Christian faithfuls are engaged in fasting, prayer, and reflection, it becomes necessary and meaningful to stand in solidarity with those who are most vulnerable”.