Wife of the Kwara State governor and founder of LEAH Charity Foundation, Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed, yesterday, organized the grand finale of her special empowerment programme for women in the state.

The empowerment programme, a collaborative effort of her NGO, the LEAH foundation of cash and various empowerment tools to beneficiaries including women, men and persons with special needs.

According to Mrs. Ahmed, the programme which benefitted non-indigenes from the South-South and the South-East residing in Kwara State was borne out of the need to fulfill promises made during the electioneering campaigns in 2011.

She said "the LEAH team has travelled the length and breadth of this state fulfilling the promises that we made to women all over the state in the course of the past three years.

"This is out of our conviction that the empowerment of women to participate actively in economic activities helps to build the economies of our communities and improve the quality of the lives of our women, children, men and our viable that we can as a sate boldly declare that our prosperity is shared in accordance with the administration's shared prosperity vision.

"The significant thing about the exercise is that the equipment which include refrigerators, sewing machines, grinding machines, hair dressing machines and chilling coolers were not randomly given. Every beneficiary of these equipment got the exact thing that they needed in accordance with a needs assessment which has earlier been conducted all over the state by our filed workers with the support of the party structure."

Enjoining the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the items that have been given to them, the first lady said the sole desire of the programme was toward ensuring the welfare of women as an important requirement for the wellbeing of our families.

In his remarks, the Kwara State governor, Dr. AbdulFatah Ahmed, commended the programme as a demonstration of resourcefulness and a pointer that lives can be impacted even in challenging situations.

"I endorse LEAH foundation’s approach to empowerment that involves providing people with the capacity to look after themselves rather than providing stipends that can only take them so far," he said.

The governor called on the people to join hands with his government to build a better Kwara State for the benefit of all.

It will be recalled that Mrs. Ahmed through her LEAH foundation has empowered over 3,500 women at various times with different tools of trade. More than 200,000 widows and the less privileged have also received relief materials.