By Our Correspondent

Minister of Youth and Sports , Mr. Sunday Dare has empowered women through the disbursement of Micro Enterprise Enhancement Scheme (MEES) interest free loan across all the 33 Local Governments and 35 LCDA’s In Oyo State .

A release from the ministry Friday said the first phase of the empowerment programme took place Thursday at the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan and women from Oyo South and Oyo Central Senatorial Districts were the beneficiaries.

The second phase of the programme scheduled for the beneficiaries, women from Oyo North Senatorial District is expected to take place on July 20 , 2020 in the ancient city of Ogbomoso, the country home of the Minister.

Sunday Dare who was represented by the former Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Olagunju Ojo enjoined the beneficiaries to make good use of the money.

”The Empowerment isn’t about giving people money; it’s about giving them power. One that cannot be taken away from them, and through that, they can sustain themselves. On this note, I commend Hon. Sunday Akin Dare for his genuine commitments to the poverty alleviation schemes . I want to also urge all the beneficiaries to make good use of the money, ” Olagunju stated .

The women leader of All Progressive Congress(APC) in Oyo state, Mrs Mabel Williams, in her remarks, lauded Hon. Sunday Dare for his selfless service and kind heart.

“When you make an impact in one family, you have touched a community, which in turn impacts the nation. And that is what the Honourable Minister, Hon. Sunday Akin Dare is doing with various programs of this kind. He can only make this financial empowerment available but you are in the best position to judiciously make use of it,” Mrs Mabel encouraged .

The Special Assistant to Osun state Governor Gboyega Oyetola on diaspora Hon. Titilayo Fadahusi, who also represented the Minister , stated that women from the 33 Local Government Areas and 35 LCDA’s are the beneficiaries of the empowerment scheme. According to Mrs Titilaoye, the financial assistance was given to the women to aid financing their small scale businesses and become self- reliant and to be able to contribute their quota to the development of the state and Nigeria at large.

Hon. Segun Ajanaku commended the contributions of Hon. Sunday Dare to the women development and overall progress of the state .

“The essence of this empowerment is to relieve women of economic hardship as an impact of Covid-19 which has affected all parts of the world,” Ajanaku stated .

In attendance were the representative of the Minister, a former Speaker Of the Oyo State House Of Assembly, Hon Olagunju Ojo, Oyo State APC Women Leader, Mrs Mabel Williams, Hon.Segun Ajanaku, Former Oyo State Head Of Service, Hon. Soji Eniade among others.
A record 300 women benefited from the empowerment program of the Minister.