By Cross Udo, Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima has challenged the Federal Government to ensure that Nigeria’s economic reforms translate into stronger businesses, higher household incomes and better living standards for women, declaring that the country owes them “an economy worthy of their labour”.
Shettima spoke on Sunday in Katsina State while flagging off the disbursement of the Community Investment Fund (CIF) under the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up (NFWP-SU), a major intervention aimed at expanding access to finance and strengthening women-owned businesses.
The Vice President said more than 40,000 women in Katsina were eligible to receive business capital after meeting the prescribed conditions and demonstrating satisfactory performance in savings and group activities, describing the intervention as an opportunity to unlock economic potential that had remained constrained by inadequate access to finance.
He said Nigerian women had for years carried significant economic and household responsibilities while operating with limited resources, stressing that the current policy direction must give them greater room to build sustainable enterprises and improve their livelihoods.
“Our daughters should inherit their mothers’ determination without inheriting every obstacle their mothers endured,” Shettima said, adding that the success of the programme would demonstrate that business skills, ambition and resilience could translate into sustainable household incomes.
He said the intervention was also consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s economic reform agenda, which, according to him, must ultimately be measured by its impact on the earning capacity and purchasing power of ordinary Nigerians.
“For the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed 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,” he said.
The Vice President stressed that the objective should be to make economic activity more rewarding for citizens, arguing that national growth would have greater meaning when its benefits became visible in household finances.
Shettima also commended Katsina State Governor Dikko Umaru Radda for prioritising women and vulnerable households, describing the focus as an important responsibility of leadership because many people facing economic hardship often lack the platform to make their concerns heard.
He warned against measuring the ambition of women by the size of their businesses, saying inadequate access to finance was often responsible for limiting the scale of their enterprises.
“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 said.
Shettima said the Community Investment Fund was designed to combine access to capital with training, savings, financial literacy and productive resources, stressing that access to money without the knowledge to manage it could undermine the sustainability of businesses.
He urged beneficiaries to maintain proper financial records, exercise caution in purchasing decisions and preserve the trust underpinning their affinity groups, saying the discipline that qualified them for the intervention would become even more important as their businesses expanded.
The Vice President also directed administrators of the fund to ensure that access remained based strictly on eligibility and was not distorted by favouritism or political interference.
He said beneficiaries should clearly understand the terms and conditions governing the funds, while all transactions must be properly documented to ensure transparency and accountability.
Governor Radda disclosed that his administration had committed an additional N4 billion to the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up, bringing the state’s total financial commitment to N8 billion.
He said the programme was designed to expand economic opportunities for women across Katsina and improve their livelihoods, while highlighting the participation of women living with hearing impairment as evidence of the state’s effort to promote inclusion.
Radda said his administration would complement the women-focused intervention with similar programmes targeting men, arguing that strengthening the economic capacity of both genders would improve household incomes and promote financial independence.
World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Matthew Verghis, said Nigerian women were already making substantial contributions to the economy, but closing existing gender gaps would require deliberate and sustained interventions.
Verghis commended the Federal and Katsina governments for identifying the economic challenges confronting women and responding through empowerment programmes, while urging the private sector, traditional institutions and community leaders to support efforts to expand opportunities for women.
Beyond the women empowerment programme, Shettima inaugurated 32 compressed natural gas-powered buses and 200 electric-powered tricycles under the Katsina State Comprehensive Urban Renewal Programme.
He also inaugurated completed road projects aimed at improving traffic flow, connectivity and urban mobility across the Katsina metropolis.
The Vice President further witnessed the defection of prominent opposition politicians into the All Progressives Congress, including former Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Dr Mustapha Inuwa, eight National Assembly aspirants, 18 State House of Assembly aspirants and other political leaders.
