The crowd at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo, capital of Osun State, southwest Nigeria, on Thursday, comprising mainly of women, showed their appreciation through singing, dancing and prayers for the incumbent Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola.
Aregbesola’s administration will give out N375 million as cash in aid of women who head households in the state. Apart from giving the women monthly stipends, they will be trained in vocations common to their territory and at the end of the 12th month, they will each be given a seed money to start small scale business, Pm News reports.
The only condition attached to the benefitting households was that they should make use of government infrastructure – meaning pregnant women in such households should make use of government health facilities while their children attend government schools.
Also, at the event, new ultra-modern hand-held ultrasound diagnostic scanners (touch screen) and mirror-3d (colour) dopller ultrasound diagnostic scanners were launched.
Here is also what the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Aregbesola on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Abdullah Adeyanju Binuyo has to say;
“We give out N5,000 monthly to the head of each benefitting household which is a woman. That is the cash aspect. Residents of the benefitting households must make use of government facilities, that is the condition. The transfer aspect is that the money given out will be spent in the state, that is ploughing back the money into the state economy thereby contributing to its development. At the end of the 12th month, each head of the benefitting household will get N100,000 to start small scale businesses of their own. Remember that the pregnant women are treated free at government hospitals while the children enjoy not only free education but they also get free school uniform and are fed free. So the people are the ultimate winners of this programme.”
