Minister vows to take legal action against states hoarding empowerment equipment

The minister of women affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has threatened to take legal actions against states and retrieve machines distributed by the federal government for women empowerment if they are not put to use.

The minister made the threat on Tuesday in Abuja while addressing commissioners for women affairs in the 36 states at the opening ceremony of a two-day capacity building workshop.

The workshop aimed to enhance leadership and management competencies to enable effective team leadership and strategic decision-making.

The workshop was organised by the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development (MBNCWD) in collaboration with UN Women and the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria.

Mrs Kennedy-Ohanenye said that the machines were distributed by the federal government to promote entrepreneurship and socio-economic development of women in the country.

At a media conference in April, Mrs Kennedy-Ohanenye listed some of the equipment distributed, including industrial sewing machines and accessories, sets of rice milling machines, garri processing machines, and fish grilling equipment and their accessories.

Other items were, industrial button hole holding machines, heavy industrial irons, tapping machines, steam pressing machines, sewing machines for stretches and stitches, cloth cutting machines, fish smoking machines as well as fish rearing buckets.

“It is unfortunate that, up till date, I have not received videos of these machines being used, which is the main reason they were given to Nigerians.

“You know in Nigeria, it is common, any idea that comes, people gather and kill it. That is why we have a lot of abandoned projects, abandoned machines, and abandoned vehicles.

“We don’t want to maintain them and we don’t want them to work.

“I want to officially announce today that the following states have received empowerment sewing machines: Anambra, Kano, Rivers, Imo, Lagos, Oyo, Katsina, Gombe, Kebbi, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Niger, Bayelsa, Benue, Jigawa, and the FCT.”

She warned that if the machines are not operational within a month, by September 13, she would take legal action against the states.

“I will retrieve the machines and take them to people who need them.

“It is unacceptable to leave equipment idle while people suffer. This has been holding women back, and we won’t set a bad example,” she said.

The minister noted that commissioners for women affairs in the listed states have yet to identify operational co-operative societies to receive the machines.

However, she commended Benue for promptly distributing the machines, citing video evidence of people using them within 48 hours of receipt.

Mrs Kennedy-Ohanenye emphasised that procuring equipment to empower women was a better use of the ministry’s funds than spending on ineffective programmes.

She urged them to immediately begin the use of the machines, assuring them that there were already markets for the items to be produced.

(NAN)