Nigeria First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, has launched a nationwide economic empowerment scheme for persons living with disabilities, providing business grants aimed at strengthening livelihoods across the country.
The launching was carried out on Wednesday.
The initiative was introduced during the commemoration of the 2025 World Disabilities Day in Port Harcourt, where the Rivers State First Lady, Lady Valerie Fubara, received the Universal Health Coverage Ambassador Award.
Represented by Lady Fubara at the event held at the Banquet Hall of Government House, Mrs Tinubu said the programme formed part of the Renewed Hope Initiative’s (RHI) commitment to improving the economic well-being of vulnerable groups.
She announced that 250 persons with disabilities in each state and the FCT would receive N200,000 Business Recapitalisation Grants to support small enterprises and expand income opportunities.
She explained that the empowerment drive reinforces President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inclusive development agenda, which seeks to ensure that no segment of the population is excluded from economic growth.
According to her, the Renewed Hope Initiative had, over the past two years, extended direct financial support to thousands of women traders, small-scale entrepreneurs, and persons with disabilities nationwide.
Lady Fubara, in her remarks, encouraged beneficiaries to maximise the grants and resist defining themselves by physical limitations, emphasising the value of creativity and resilience.
She said discrimination, not disability, remains the true barrier facing many people with physical challenges, and called on corporate organisations to complement government efforts by supporting disability-focused programmes.
She reaffirmed Rivers State Government’s readiness to collaborate with the National Disabilities Commission to strengthen interventions that promote dignity, access and equal opportunity for persons with disabilities.
Delivering a presentation on “Protecting PLWD Through Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s Health for All Rivers Initiative,” the Executive Secretary of the Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP), Dr Vetty Agala, highlighted ongoing policies designed to provide special healthcare coverage for persons with disabilities.
She announced that beneficiaries of the empowerment grants would also be enrolled under the state’s free medical care scheme.
Dr Agala later conferred the Universal Health Coverage Ambassador Award on Lady Fubara in recognition of her support for healthcare expansion and advocacy for vulnerable groups.
