Lagos State Government on Tuesday said it supported a total of 1,450 windows with the sum of N29 million in 2020.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Cecilia Dada, made this known during the 2021 Ministerial Briefing on Tuesday in Ikeja.
Dada said each of the 1,450 widows was given N20, 000 as livelihood support on International Widow’s Day 2020.
“Another 1,500 will be benefiting by June 2021, which is the International Widows Day.”
She said the state’s training initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty and engaging indigent persons were totally tuition-free for the general public.
The commissioner said that all the ministry’s programmes on short, medium, and long-term training were tuition-free; hence, the general public should report anyone demanding payment to access any of the training programmes.
“We have 20 various vocations, which are targeted at supporting trainees towards the path of self-reliance and financial independence. These trainees are taught in different locations across the three Senatorial districts, with certificates being awarded upon completion to afford the trainees opportunity for internship in various multinationals and industries, within Lagos State.”
She said so far, over 10,000 graduates had been produced by government-owned 19 skills acquisition centers, spread around Lagos in the last two years.
Dada said the ministry’s mandate was to ensure that there was zero tolerance for mediocrity, poverty, and idleness, especially among women. The ministry of WAPA did not limit the scope of its engagement to women alone, but also gave attention to the indigents and the vulnerable members of the public, in general.
“Our children are our future, a brighter tomorrow from what we see today. As a result, we realized that good parenting remains the foundation for a progressive society. A well-trained child grows up to become a formidable adult.
WAPA in this view organized a training programme for 200 parents in August 2020, which was on human trafficking enlightenment and how to curb the menace. We want a productive society, directed at uplifting best practices for progress.
We also realize that domestic violence is taking its toll on our societal values and thus requires concerted efforts to ensure all strategies are being put up to curb such menace.”
