The wife of the Vice President, Hajia Amina Namadi Sambo has said Nigerian women needed urgent financial support and business skills to improve their status.

Mrs Sambo stated this on Saturday at the opening of the 33rd Kaduna International Trade Fare, taking place at the International Trade and Investment Centre, Kaduna.

She said women constituted more than 51 per cent of Nigeria’s population with about 70 per cent of them involved in small and medium enterprises.

In spite of this, the wife of the vice president noted that majority of the women live in abject poverty.

“65 per cent of the 100 million Nigerians living below poverty line are women,’’ she said.

She urged the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture to set aside a special day for women entrepreneurs, to enable them have the opportunity to showcase their goods and services at the fair.

“This would uplift the economic status of our teeming and energetic women,’’ she said.

Mrs Sambo further urged local and foreign investors to invest in the largely untapped opportunities in in the non-oil sectors such as agriculture, mining, tourism and power.

In his speech, President Goodluck Jonathan, represented by Gov Patrick Yakowa, said the theme for the fair, “Reawakening Nigerian Enterprises towards Global Competitiveness,’’ was in line with the Transformation Agenda of the government and Vision 20:20:20.

“Nigeria is more than oil and gas”, he said and urged Nigerians to focus on agriculture and the development of the solid mineral sector to meet global competitiveness.

Yakowa used the opportunity to speak on the efforts of the Kaduna State Government to reposition the state’s economy.

He said the government would privatise the Zaria Pharmaceutical Company, Kafanchan Flower Mills and the Ikara Tomatoe Company to create opportunities for farmers and women in the state.