ABIODUN AND THE WOMEN’S AGENDA: EMPOWERING WOMEN, STRENGTHENING FAMILIES, SECURING OGUN

ABIODUN AND THE WOMEN’S AGENDA: EMPOWERING WOMEN, STRENGTHENING FAMILIES, SECURING OGUN

By Kayode Akinmade

A government’s commitment to women is best judged not by the number of empowerment programmes it announces, but by whether it creates lasting pathways for women to earn, lead and shape society. By that measure, Governor Dapo Abiodun’s record in Ogun State presents a clear and deliberate women’s agenda.

Under Abiodun, women’s development has moved beyond episodic assistance to become part of the State’s broader economic and social strategy. From productive capital and livelihood support to skills acquisition, financial inclusion, enterprise development and leadership opportunities, the administration has pursued a simple proposition: Ogun’s development cannot be complete when its women are economically constrained or excluded from decision-making.

The scale of the intervention reinforces that proposition. Under his leadership, Ogun State, in partnership with the World Bank-supported Nigeria for Women Project, has directly empowered about 100,000 women. Official figures also indicate the establishment of 8,759 Women Affinity Groups involving 247,273 women across the State’s 20 Local Government Areas. These figures represent different dimensions of the programme and should not be conflated.

The substance of the policy, however, is the opportunity created for women to build sustainable livelihoods. Oko’wo Dapo illustrates this approach. Relaunched in 2022, the programme initially provided livelihood grants to 2,094 women. By January 2026, Governor Abiodun reported that more than ₦5 billion had been invested in women-focused livelihood programmes over six years—about ₦3 billion through the World Bank-supported initiative and another ₦2 billion from Ogun State. Oko’wo Dapo had, by then, reportedly empowered about 55,000 women.

These figures should not be added mechanically because programme categories and beneficiaries may overlap. Their significance lies in the scale and continuity of public investment.

The Governor’s proposal to institutionalise Oko’wo Dapo as a statewide Women’s Trust Fund could provide a more durable framework for this intervention, provided it is backed by strong governance, transparency and measurable outcomes.

His commitment has also been reinforced through strategic collaboration. During the recent visit of First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu to Ogun State, Governor Abiodun provided institutional support and ensured the cooperation of the State Government, strengthening the alignment between Ogun’s women-focused programmes and the First Lady’s national initiatives on women’s economic empowerment and social inclusion.

The wider significance of this agenda is that women’s economic advancement is also an investment in household and community stability. Women play critical roles in household welfare, agriculture, commerce and local economies. Strengthening their livelihoods can help families withstand economic shocks and reduce vulnerabilities to exploitation, trafficking and other social pressures.

This is not an argument that poverty produces criminality. It is an acknowledgement that expanding legitimate economic opportunities is part of preventive development and human security.

That thinking fits naturally into the Governor’s ISEYA agenda—Infrastructure, Social Welfare and Wellbeing, Education, Youth Development and Agriculture and Food Security—where women are central participants and beneficiaries.

The commitment also predates the current scale of the Nigeria for Women Project. The administration’s 2020 Budget Speech reported that Ogun’s participation in Federal Government social-investment programmes had provided direct employment and empowerment opportunities for more than 3,090 women. Women and young people were also identified as priority beneficiaries of agricultural and livelihood interventions, including the FADAMA Graduate Unemployed Youths and Women Scheme.

This continuity is important. It shows that the women agenda is not an isolated intervention but part of a broader governing philosophy that seeks to expand women’s economic opportunities and strengthen their contribution to the State’s development.

But for Governor Abiodun, advancement cannot end with economics. Women must also have a place where decisions are made.

His administration has created opportunities for women to serve in the State Executive Council, State House of Assembly, National Assembly, boards, agencies and parastatals. These appointments represent more than representation; they provide women with authority, visibility and platforms to influence policy and public affairs.

This combination of economic opportunity and institutional inclusion gives the women agenda greater depth. It recognises women not merely as beneficiaries of government programmes, but as entrepreneurs, professionals, policymakers, community leaders and partners in governance.

The real measure of the policy should therefore be its lasting impact: stronger enterprises, improved incomes, greater financial inclusion, more secure households and increased participation by women in public life.

The proposed Women’s Trust Fund could help consolidate these gains and provide a sustainable institutional foundation for the next phase.

Taken together, the record points to a clear philosophy: give women the economic foundation to prosper and the institutional space to lead.

That is the essence of the Abiodun women agenda—a deliberate investment in women as economic actors, community builders and leaders, and ultimately in the strength of families, the stability of communities and the prosperity of Ogun State.