FG Expands Support for Widows with Health Insurance, Grants and Skills Training

By Taibat Ummi Yakubu 

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to improving the welfare of widows across the country through expanded social protection and economic empowerment initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and promoting self-reliance.

Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, made this known on Tuesday as Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the 2026 International Widows’ Day, themed “Justice, Dignity and Economic Power for Widows.”

According to the minister, the government is scaling up programmes that provide widows with access to healthcare, financial support and vocational training to help them build sustainable livelihoods and improve their living conditions.

She disclosed that in 2025, 17 clusters of widows were enrolled in the National Health Insurance Scheme, with each group receiving a N500,000 grant to strengthen cooperative businesses and income-generating ventures.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the intervention had already begun yielding positive results, noting that many beneficiaries had increased their earnings and adopted modern backyard farming techniques to boost food production and household stability.

She added that thousands of widows nationwide had also benefited from entrepreneurship training, digital skills programmes, vocational development and financial inclusion initiatives designed to enhance economic independence and productivity.

The minister explained that the programmes align with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and are being implemented across all 774 local government areas to ensure no widow is left behind.

“Our goal is to ensure that widowhood does not become a pathway to poverty, exclusion or vulnerability, but rather an opportunity for empowerment and economic participation,” she said.

Highlighting the impact of the initiatives, Sulaiman-Ibrahim noted that many widows were transitioning from dependency to self-sufficiency through increased access to resources and economic opportunities.

She called on development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to join efforts in expanding support systems that will further improve the welfare and economic prospects of widows across Nigeria.