By Nnamdi Ojiego

As part of activities to celebrate its 31st anniversary, Adonai Empowerment Foundation, AEF, has disclosed that it would on Saturday, November 20, 2021, give N2.5 million worth of business grants to 50 women as well as distribute relief materials to over 1,500 women in Lagos State.

The Founder and Executive Director of AEF, Mrs Lyne Oladapo, stated this at a press briefing on Wednesday in Festac, Lagos.

According to her, the foundation had empowered over 150 women with business grants in the past.

She said: “And this year, we plan to empower 50 women with grants to boost their businesses or start up new ones. Last year, we gave some women N100,000 each. And we also monitor what they do afterwards and reward those who have made good use of the grant by giving them more money or what we call booster grants.”

Also speaking, the foundation’s Lead Director, Mo Oladapo, explained that this year’s annual charity event, the 31st in the series, would focus on giving grants for micro and small businesses to women, providing medical checks and drugs as well as distributing relief materials to indigent women and children.

Others to benefit from the programme entitled, “Compassion Charity event”, include struggling market women, orphaned children or children of the poor, as well as struggling young students/entrepreneurs.

‘We have been doing it for the past 31 years. It helps us to capture all our humanitarian efforts, which is our outreach to widows, aged women, downtrodden, market women but particularly the disadvantaged women. We reach out to women in dire need of assistance for their businesses.

“We give small grants to women to boost their businesses. They are to attend a compulsory skill acquisition and also a business talk from where we will find out their business knowledge”, he said.

In his remarks, the Executive Coordinator, Pastor Richard Minet, said such relief material as foodstuffs like rice, Indomie noodles, and semolina; school bags for school children; clothing materials, like Ankara for the women, among others would be given out to 1,500 families.

He said the Foundation holds the annual event in partnership with other donor agencies including individuals and government agencies.

‘Apart from donor agencies, we have also collaborated in the past with government agencies including the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Health and Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation among others,’ he said.