Vice President Kashim Shettima has stressed the need for government’s economic reforms to translate into stronger businesses, greater purchasing power, and an improved quality of life for Nigerians.

Shettima, who spoke on Sunday while flagging off the Community Investment Fund (CIF) disbursement in a major push for women empowerment and financial inclusion under the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up (NFWP-SU) Project at Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina, declared: “For the administration of President Bola Tinubu, economic reform must find expression in the earning capacity of citizens. We must connect national policy to the circumstances of the trader, the producer and the service provider.

“Our task is to make their effort more rewarding, so that the pursuit of national growth becomes intelligible in the accounts of an ordinary household.”

The Vice President also canvassed for a conducive business environment for Nigerian women to ply their trade, saying the nation owes them an economy worthy of their labour.

According to him, women should be given more space for their ambition to flourish unlike in the past when they carried heavy responsibilities with limited resources for their businesses to thrive.

He also inaugurated 32 compressed natural gas-powered buses and 200 electric-powered tricycles under the Katsina State Comprehensive Urban Renewal Programme as well as several completed road projects undertaken to improve traffic flow, connectivity and urban mobility in state metropolis.

The CIF fund disbursement, he said, answers a question that should trouble every government as it borders on how much prosperity has been postponed by asking women to work miracles with too little capital

According to Shettima, over 40,000 women in Katsina are eligible to receive business capital after fulfilling the prescribed eligibility conditions and demonstrating satisfactory performance in their savings and group activities.

Making a strong case for women empowerment, he said, “Our daughters should inherit their mothers’ determination without inheriting every obstacle their mothers endured. That is another reason to make this programme succeed. The girl who watches a business grow in her own household learns that skill can yield an income, and that ambition can survive contact with adversity.

“We owe these women an economy worthy of their labour. They have carried heavy responsibilities with limited means; their ambition should now have more room to flourish. With confidence in their abilities, I hereby flag off the Community Investment Fund disbursement under the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up Project in Katsina State. May Almighty Allah bless their efforts and grant our country enduring prosperity.”

The Vice President hailed Governor Dikko Radda’s sensitivity to what he described as an “economic necessity that reaches beyond the loudest voices,” noting that the governor’s “attention to women and vulnerable households honours an essential duty of leadership: to hear those whose difficulties seldom command a microphone.”

Observing that “a government earns affection when the citizen with the least influence receives its fullest attention, he said, “Katsina’s concern for enterprise acquires deeper meaning when it reaches the woman whose ambitions have remained smaller than her abilities because her resources could carry her no further.

“We should never confuse a small business with a small aspiration. The scale of an enterprise often tells us more about the owner’s access to finance than about the reach of her imagination,” he added.

On the CIF design, Shettima said it is an empowerment programme for which training is required, explaining that “money needs knowledge and organisation to produce lasting results.”

“Through Women Affinity Groups, savings and lending are linked to training, financial literacy and access to productive resources. A woman should understand the terms on which she borrows, distinguish revenue from profit and possess the confidence to question a transaction. Financial participation loses much of its value without informed judgement.

“To the women participating, your savings have spoken for you. Every contribution made despite competing demands records a decision to prepare for tomorrow. Preserve that discipline as your businesses grow. Keep sound records, weigh your purchases carefully and protect the trust within your groups. The habits that qualified you for this investment will matter even more when larger sums pass through your hands.”

Shettima implored those administering the fund to ensure that eligibility remains the “basis of access, without favouritism or political interference,” pointing out that beneficiaries should understand what they receive and how the process works, while each transaction are properly documented.

Earlier, Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Radda, said the state government has committed an additional N4 billion to the implementation of the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up, bringing the state’s total financial commitment to the programme to N8 billion.

Radda noted that the flag-off of the programme was expanding economic opportunities for women across the state with the ultimate objective of improving their livelihoods.

He particularly applauded the participation of women living with hearing impairment, particularly the formation of affinity groups to enhance inclusion and describing it as one of the most encouraging developments under the programme.

The governor added that the state government would complement the women-focused empowerment initiative with similar interventions targeting men, stressing that empowering both men and women would strengthen household incomes and promote financial independence.

On his part, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Matthew Verghis, said Nigerian women are already making significant contributions across various sectors of the economy and noted that closing gender gaps would require deliberate action.

He commended the Federal and Katsina State Governments for identifying the economic needs of women and choosing to address them through empowerment initiatives.

Verghis also called on the private sector, community leaders and traditional institutions to support efforts aimed at expanding economic opportunities for women across the state.

Earlier, the Vice President inaugurated 32 compressed natural gas-powered buses and 200 electric-powered tricycles under the Katsina State Comprehensive Urban Renewal Programme.

He also inaugurated several completed road projects undertaken to improve traffic flow, connectivity and urban mobility in Katsina metropolis.

Shettima also witnessed the reception of prominent political defectors into the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by former Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Dr Mustapha Inuwa and other stalwarts including eight National Assembly aspirants, 18 State House of Assembly aspirants and several political leaders from opposition parties. (THISDAY)

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