The Lagos State government says it spent N10 billion in five years to empower vulnerable residents, especially women, through the Micro-Enterprise Support Initiative (MESI).

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State made this known on Tuesday in Ikeja during the empowerment of 1,750 individuals through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation’s (WAPA’s) Initiative (MESI).

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the initiative was deliberate to uplift young entrepreneurs and support them with the needed tools to start their businesses.

“We have spent close to N10 billion to buy various equipment in a period of five years, and this is like the ninth time we have come up with this programme within these years.

“We will continue to build schools, hospitals, and roads, but empowerment programmes of this nature will impact families, communities and the state.

“Apart from the fact that this intervention is key for our administration’s performance, this is the real dividend of democracy where lives are being impacted directly for the growth of the state,” he said.

The governor commended WAPA for coming up with the initiative, saying it aligned with his administration’s THEMES+ agenda to alleviate poverty and engage vulnerable women.

He urged beneficiaries of the MESI programme to use the equipment given to them to improve their sources of income.

Speaking earlier, Bolaji Dada, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty, said MESI was one of the programmes through which the state continued to transform lives, foster entrepreneurship, and engage the vulnerable.

Ms Dada said that since its inception, the initiative had directly empowered thousands of indigent residents of Lagos by providing equipment and training and giving them start-up capital.

She commended the governor for his immense and continuous support of WAPA.

Items distributed at the MESI programme include hairdressing kits (hair dryers and attachments), two face burners, sewing machines, stoning machines and aluminium fabrication machines.

Others are smoking kilns, pepper grinders, barbering kits (clippers, sterilisers and generators), PoS machines, cash grants, cake mixers, pedicure sets, photography equipment (camera and camera stand), carpentry equipment, and agricultural items. 

(NAN)