Abuja – The Hotel Owners Forum, Abuja (HOFA) says it has concluded plans to empower widows and build the mental capacity of the girl child in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The president of the association, Dr Bola Onigbogi, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
She said HOFA was considering the plans in view of the association’s decision to create a positive image in the hearts of members of the society.
“We are seriously working on that; we need to do something to make the community feel our positive impact.
“We are going to support the widows in their small businesses and also encourage them in the best way we can.
“If you give someone a fish, you will only feed that person for a day, but if you teach the person how to fish, you will feed the person forever,’’ she said.
Onigbogi said it was regrettable that a lot of young girls in the society were undergoing a lot of challenges ranging from sexual, physical to mental abuses.
She revealed that HOFA had developed strategies on how to empower the girl child, particularly secondary school girls in various communities of the territory, through capacity building seminars.
“We will give talks to the girl children to educate them on the need to be able to speak out when they have issues relating to abuses of different forms.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“A lot of young girls are facing various forms of abuses and maltreatment from their male counterparts and relations.
“That is another area we will focus on, because dirty-minded men are always in the habit of molesting young girls; threatening to kill them if they expose their acts.
“So, we want to encourage them by building their capacity to speak out; I will want to achieve that as the first female president of HOFA,’’ she said.
On the need to promote culture and tourism, Onigbogi said she would love to see a viable collaboration existing between HOFA, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the FCT Department of Tourism.
“HOFA, as a stakeholder in the culture and tourism sector, should be involved in the various festivals and tourism related activities in the country,” she said.
She, however, said the association would continue to explore better ways of collaborating with the public sector and other stakeholders to boost the development of the sector. (NAN)