Obasanjo also said that the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) was making an appreciable progress in mobilising Nigerians ahead of 2019, saying over 3,000,000 people, including himself, had so far registered as members.

Obasanjo, who is the chief promoter of CNM, said the movement would make an inroad into the grassroots across the country, reiterating that he would pull out if CNM morphs into a political party or sponsor persons for elective offices in future general elections.

The Octogenarian spoke at Victoria Island, Lagos, while fielding questions from women at the 14th annual lecture of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service(WimBiz), a non – governmental organization, themed ‘Press for Progress: Women in Politics and Nation Building.’

He noted that women have not done enough for themselves to take reasonable positions in the nation’s political space, stressing that they also should be adequately prepared, first put their feet right and be willing to pay the necessary price to witness the desired change.

He noted that there is no tradition or culture that encourages subjugation of women in Nigeria, but blamed the shortchanging of womenfolk in the scheme of things on “male chauvinism mentality and selfishness of men.”

According to him, nobody would concede a space to the other person unless it is fought for and won.

Obasanjo said experience had continued to show that when women are put in positions of responsibility, they do better and preached that they should be incorporated into all strata of leadership for nation building.

He explained that in his time as a young Nigerian, people had more opportunities but less facilities to take advantage of such opportunities contrary to what obtained today where Nigerians have more facilities but less opportunities to function or embrace.

He urged Nigerian women to take cue from America and prepare for politics, saying if being a woman alone was what it takes to succeed in political ambition, Hilary Clinton would be emerged the United States President today.

“If only womanhood was enough to get Mrs Hilary Clinton would have made it to the White House but she had a man(Donald Trump) who did what he could do to get to power.

”I don’t want or expect women to climb palm trees to harvest bunch of palm fruits. If anybody says he wants to see my mother climb palm trees, I will take a second look at that person but women must do what it takes to succeed in Nigerian political space.

“To you women, do not allow any body to build your world for you. Build your world for yourself. Yes, women need encouragement but they must do enough for themselves,” Obasanjo said

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Speaking at the distribution ceremony, Executive Secretary of LSETF, Akin Oyebode said the award of the offer letters was in fulfillment of one of the cardinal promises of the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration to set up a fund to drive the growth of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in recognition of their critical role as the engine of growth and leading creator of jobs in any economy.

Oyebode, who said the award of the offer letters was also an eloquent testimony of the readiness of the State Government to support the thriving youths and residents of the State, said a total of 1,000 MSMEs have been earmarked to benefit from the pilot scheme, out of which 281 micro enterprises have so far been approved.

He said out of those approved, 150 beneficiaries have collected their offer letters, while the process for approval for others in the pilot scheme is ongoing.

To ensure transparency and unbiased process, Oyebode said the LSETF engaged partners to help with the selection, verification and disbursement of the loans to beneficiaries.

“These partners include Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) who verified all the applications and audit the processes. Others include organizations such as the Fate Foundation, LEAP Africa, Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), National Automobile Technicians Association (NATA) and Cooperative Societies, who provided applicants for the pilot scheme through their membership,” Oyebode said.

He added that application process is still ongoing and that once completed, a full list of beneficiaries would be made available to the public.

While disclosing details of the loan, Oyebode said the beneficiaries of the micro enterprise pilot scheme were given loan approval ranging from N300,000 to N500,000, with an annual five percent interest rate, which is the lowest anywhere in the country.

He said the LSETF was in the process of rolling out the N5million SME loan programme which will provide fund for the sector for up to two years, adding that the N6.25 billion to be disbursed annually through the ETF has already been approved.

Besides, Oyebode expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for their support so far, and expressed readiness for greater cooperation in the coming months and years.

Responding, one of the beneficiaries, Chike Charles Obi expressed appreciation to the State Government, especially Governor Ambode for fulfilling his promise, saying that most of them did not initially believe that the offer was real, but just applied.

He said the development was a confirmation that Governor Ambode has brought real change to governance, and thanked the LSETF for being transparent and unbiased especially in choosing the beneficiaries.

Another beneficiary, Modupe Shukurat Alausa urged her co-beneficiaries to encourage government by using the fund for the purpose meant. She also thanked Governor Ambode for running an all inclusive government.

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The event themed ‘Becoming Financially Fearless’ was organised to advance the Nigerian woman’s financial confidence as well as secure their financial future.

Nimi Akinkugbe, CEO, Bestman Games Limited, Funmi Oyetunji, CEO, Abitos Financial Services Limited, Arese Ugwu, Head of Wealth Management at Partnership Investment Plc, and Tonye Cole, Co-Founder and Group Executive Director, Sahara Group were among the speakers at the event, expounding on a varying range of topics from financial management to risk taking in an uncertain economy.

Arunma Oteh, former Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, who chaired the event emphasized the need to become financially fearless, achieve business success and leave a legacy.

She advised the audience to read voraciously and widely, value investing more than spending and embrace mentorship.

FirstBank’s support for the event is one of the Bank’s many interventions to promote women inclusion and participation in the polity through financial awareness and empowerment.

Similar initiatives supported by the Bank recently include the Inspire for Women Conference, Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WimBiz) Conference, Women of West Africa Excellence in Entrepreneurship (WOWe) Conference, and the SME Workshops for women led SMEs anchored by the FirstBank Sustainability Centre in Lagos Business School, among several other women empowerment programmes.

According to the Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Folake Ani-Mumuney, the Bank is committed to initiatives that would encourage women’s participation and contribution to the growth and development of the economy.

“We would continuously engage with initiatives that will inspire, mentor and raise a new generation of entrepreneurial women,” she stated.

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