Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
For Dr Juliet Hasana-Moneme, empowerment should not end when the cash is handed over. It should create a cycle in which beneficiaries build businesses, repay support and make room for others.
The PRP FCT senatorial aspirant illustrated her approach with the story of a woman she said was struggling with family debts and selling plastic goods when she sought her assistance.
Rather than simply give her money, Moneme said she helped the woman identify another skill, preparing akara, fried yam and other food, and supported her with the basic items needed to start.
She said she also personally promoted the woman’s food business, helping attract customers until the operation expanded into a restaurant.
According to Moneme, the woman eventually began supplying food for visitors at the local government secretariat and expanded her business and savings.
She said the experience shaped her belief that empowerment programmes should combine start-up support with mentoring, supervision, savings and access to markets.
Moneme said she applied a similar revolving-fund model in community programmes, where beneficiaries contributed regularly and repayments allowed others to access the funds.
She said the model was also used in a women’s organisation she led in Abuja, where the revolving fund remained active after she handed over.
“We need to make sure that the money you give to your people for investment is not free. It is going to be a revolving fund,” she said.
Moneme is now promising to apply the same principle to constituency empowerment if elected to the Senate, with women’s skills acquisition, empowerment and access to credit among the commitments she says voters should hold her accountable for.
She said a database of residents across the FCT’s six area councils would help identify beneficiaries and match their needs with available opportunities.
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