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RAYMONDOZOJI reports

In yet another display of responsible and people-oriented leadership, Chief Mrs. Iyom Amaka Obi PhD the Chairman of Idemili-South Local Government Area of Anambra State has lifted 700 families from poverty and squalor.

Obi's mega multimillion naira empowerment scheme said to be the 4th in the series was not a mere campaign or propaganda as the Governor's wife Dr. Mrs. Nonye Soludo and a plethora of dignitaries were witnesses to the life-changing poverty alleviation programme which beneficiaries confessed would change their lives and improve their living conditions for good.

Sewing machines, ovens, hair-dressing equipment and other items which cost over N200,000 each in the market were given free of charge to 700 beneficiaries to improve their businesses and also put food on their tables.

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Idemili-South headquarters Ojoto on Wednesday 13th August 2025 played host to this mother of all empowerment programmes as joy and laughter filled the atmosphere because Amaka Obi's grassroots development programmes are changing lives and yielding impactful results.

Amaka Obi while addressing the mammoth crowd prior to the presentation of the empowerment materials to the beneficiaries, said the essence was for economic empowerment, self-reliance and social inclusion. She also added that the occasion was primarily to celebrate the fruits of hardwork, resilience and the power of opportunities.

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Obi stated that the empowerment was for 700 persons who have been trained in various skills ranging from leather works, confectionaries, beauty care, catering services, tailoring and so on; providing them with the necessary equipment to start and sustain their businesses.

She therefore emphasized that the empowerment materials were not merely gifts but investments in human capital and also investments in the future of Idemili-South Local Government Area. She said that beyond skills and tools, the local government authority also doled out financial support to 250 petty traders, adding that the cash grants will give them the boost they need to expand, restore as well as improve on their strengths.

According to her, the council authority equally reached out to physically-challenged persons by providing wheelchairs for them to improve their mobility and independence, stressing that true empowerment is incomplete if it leaves anyone behind.

The Idemili-South boss stated in very strong terms that the goal of her administration was to ensure that every member of the seven towns in Idemili-South Local Government Area has a chance to live with dignity and contribute meaningfully to the society.

She was however of the opinion that the objective of her empowerment scheme was to fight poverty, hunger and unemployment with opportunities, to replace dependency with productivity and to create a community where every hand has work and every heart has hope. That they want to build a self-reliant Idemili-South where the people would not be job seekers but job creators.

Obi thanked Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo for his unwavering commitment to good governance, economic transformation and people-oriented policies. She said Soludo's leadership style has been an inspiration to her and that his reforms have laid the foundation for her empowerment programmes to thrive.

Obi also appreciated the wife of the governor Dr. Mrs. Nonye Soludo for making the well-being of Ndi-Anambra a priority through her Healthy Living Initiative where she stresses the dire need for organic foods for good health and longevity. She said Nonye Soludo's passion for humanity motivates her to do more to uplifting the people.

Meanwhile Anambra State Commissioner for Youths Mr. Patrick Aghadinuno Mba informed the gathering that Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo has released N2.5 Billion for business growth and expansions in the state. Mba who disclosed that the N2.5 Billion is domiciled in the Anambra State Business Development Agency (ASBA), said there was need to collaborate with the Ministry of Industry for the formation of cooperatives to enable small business owners access the funds to grow as well as expand their businesses.

Mba said they would synergize with Amaka Obi to ensure that the beneficiaries of her empowerment programme are organized into cooperative groups to enable them access the funds for their micro business enterprises.

The youth commissioner also informed that the beneficiaries of the empowerment programme would be linked to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University School of Business and Entrepreneurship Studies to enhance and improve their knowledge of business management especially in building customer base and making bigger profits for sustenance.

Other speakers which includes Ikenna Iyiegbu (Ike Cubana), Commissioner for Culture, Tourism and Entertainment Comrade Don Onyenji, Commissioner for Special Duties Hon. Beverly Nkemdiche Ikpeazu, the lawmaker representing Idemili-South state constituency in the 8th assembly Hon. Barr. Chukwuebuka Igwe and other stakeholders of Idemili-South council area, underscored the importance of the empowerment scheme, saying that it will go a long way in improving their economic status while assuring Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo that Idemili-South is APGA and they will prove it on November 8th governorship election this year.

Some of the beneficiaries who couldn't withhold their joy and ecstasy, described Hon. Amaka Obi as the best thing that has ever happened to Idemili-South Local Government Area as far as local government administration is concerned.

Mrs. Christiana Anoliefo, a septuagenarian who hails from Awka-Etiti in Idemili-South told this journalist that she got cash support from Amaka Obi to improve her small petty business.

Chiamaka Ejikeme from Oba community said the cash support she got from the empowerment programme will help her a lot in her POS and Poultry business while Mrs. Ifeoma Ejibendu who is also from Oba community expressed profound gratitude to God for the cash empowerment noting that it will boost her business a great deal.

Ngozi Ebube a physically-challenged woman from Ojoto community who got wheelchair said she was grateful to Amaka Obi for the largese while Mr. Augustine Ifeanyi Eze, another physically-challenged person from Awka-Etiti who got a wheelchair said he was surprised beyond words because such has never happened since the creation of Idemili-South Local Government.

Miss. Adaeze Onwuegbushunam who does her salon business at Ojoto-Uno, said can not thank Amaka Obi enough because the hair washing basin she got will rejuvenate her business.

Another beneficiary who identified herself as Afoma Francisca Onyinye and specializes in confectionaries, said she got Oven from the empowerment programme. Miss Afoma said ordinarily it would cost her over N200,000 to purchase the machine in the market but she got it free of charge from Amaka Obi.

She said that the Oven will help her a lot in baking cakes, meat pies, bread, chips and so on even as she prayed for Amaka Obi to go higher in life beyond her imaginations.

Favour Chukwudi and Mmesoma Ezeimo who are both seamstresses based in Ojoto said they were given brand new sewing machines to help their fashion businesses thrive and successful.

The wife of the governor Dr. Mrs. Nonye Soludo who did some of the presentations, admonished the beneficiaries not to sell the empowerment materials which they got free of charge but ensure that they deployed them for the purpose they were meant to serve. This she noted would empower their families, create more jobs and reduce poverty and unemployment in the state.

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