Lagos – Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, on Monday, urged widows and the less privileged in the country to seek economic empowerment by utilising the vocational skills acquisition and empowerment programmes at their disposal.
Ambode made the call at an empowerment programme for widows, mothers with multiple births and medical support for the less privileged in Lagos.
The programme was organised in conjunction with a Non-Governmental Organisation, Hope for Women Foundation (HOFOWEM).
According to the governor’s wife, stable income gives some guarantee of happiness and preserves the dignity and self worth of a woman.
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She said that the state government, through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) would be readily available to assist the women in any vocation of their choice.
She added that WAPA had vocational training centres spread across the state and urged organisations, wealthy individuals to support government’s empowerment programmes to help the less privileged to make meaning out of life.
She noted that “societies thrive when the burden on widows are made lighter and the less privileged are assisted in a number of ways to live better lives.
“No society can thrive in an atmosphere where these class of people are continuously ignored.”
Mrs Oyefunke Adeleke, the Coordinator of HOFOWEM, said the programme was put together after a careful study of the trend in the society where enough help was not coming for the widows and the less privileged.
Adeleke appreciated the governor’s wife for partnering with the Foundation to bring joy and happiness to the vulnerable in the society.
In her remarks, Mrs Omotola Rotimi, the Director, Office of the Public Defender (OPD), sensitised the women on their rights as enshrined in the constitution.
Rotimi said that some cultural practices among some people in the country did not go in line with modern day realities.
She urged the widows whose rights were being violated to avail themselves of the opportunities provided by the OPD.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 32 widows and 14 mothers with multiple births were empowered at the event.