Emblem
By Ambrose Ologide
This year’s United Nations theme for International Women’s Day ‘ Gender Equality Today and Sustainable Tomorrow ‘ is very apt in the Nigerian context, going by agitation by most Nigerian women for gender equality in recent times.
The Secretary of International Forum For Women , United Nations Ambassador ( Mrs ) Onyi Ikemefuna spoke on the theme in an exclusive media interaction with our correspondent in her Effurun resident .
She justified the agitation as she noted that women were very important in the lives of men because according to her , without a woman there can be no man .
Ikemefuna who is the Director of Shamar Educational Foundation, Enerhen in Uvwie Local Government Area, went further to explain the importance of the celebration as she noted it for womenfolk to help themselves to realise that they were leaders and professional advisers .
She however advised women to help themselves to grow.
To this end, she disclosed that the Commission On The Status For Women ( CSW ) of which she belonged , had been in the vanguard of sponsoring Nigerian women to New York for the celebration of the International Women’s Day since 2012 .
Ikemefuna however stated that since the outbreak of the dreaded covid-19 pandemic they have decided to celebrate it locally.
” There is nothing wrong if wives of governors , National Assembly members and local government chairmen celebrate it locally and make it a special day for women.” She stated and stressed that women should assist each other to grow .
In her contribution, the proprietress of St. Anastasia Heights International School Effurun , Uvwie Local Government Area Chief ( Mrs ) Anastasia Onisuru Agbatutu bitterly noted that Africa had lost a lot owing to discrimination against women.
The highly esteemed Uvwie chief, posited that for Nigeria to have a sustainable tomorrow, women should be given a chance.
She noted that Nigerian women had often proved that they can even do more better than the menfolk in all fields of endeavours .
Agbatutu cited Dr ( Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala and late Professor ( Mrs ) Dora Akunyili to support her claim .
On her part, a political icon, Olorogun Eunice Daji Okoh who is gunning for the Ughelli/Udu Federal House of Representatives seat under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2023 spoke in the same vein .
She said that men should see women as partners in progress.
Okoh urged Nigerian women to always push for their rights.
Okoh however lauded Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for his patronage for women in his administration, saying that no governor in Nigeria, including the presidency, has patronized women in his administration as Governor Okowa.
She then seized the opportunity to solicit for support from the PDP leaders in the federal Constituency as well as the Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowafor her political ambition.
A renowned counselor , Comrade (Mrs) Rose Obi who is also the Chairman of National Association of Propietors of Private Schools ( NAPPS ) Uvwie Local Government Area Chapter urged women to be focused and be dedicated to any good they do in order to succeed in the agitation.
She also charged women to add value to their families and the society in general.
“This is the only way we can be sure of a sustainable tomorrow ” she added.
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