By Okon Bassey in Uyo
Over 400 women in Akwa Ibom State have benefited from cash and starter packs donations courtesy of the Wife of the State Governor, Dr. Martha Udom Emmanuel.
The donations were made by Mrs. Emmanuel under her pet project, “Family Empowerment and Youth Reorientation Path Initiative” (FEYReP), which has clocked seven years.
She said that the donations were in line with one of the objectives of her pet project, which is to empower women to provide economic and emotional support to their families.
The first lady disclosed duringt the seventh anniversary of the scheme in Uyo that the beneficiaries were drawn from thirty one local government areas in the state after completing their training on different vocations ranging from tailoring, hair dressing, barbing and cobbling.
Some of the items that were distributed included sewing machines, hair dryers, cobbling machine, cash and other items needed to start the journey to entrepreneurship.
She warned the beneficiaries against selling the items, stressing that her goal was to ensure women, especially wives and mothers, were gainfully engaged to add value to their respective families.
“No woman should remain a housewife, so that you can support your husbands,” she added.
The wife of the state governor said that other objectives of FEYReP included the creation of a platform that would showcase successful families, advocate for the prevention of teenage pregnancy and education of the girl-child and promotion of moral values and economic excellence in the youths.
The first lady said that she has devoted the past seven years to the service of humanity in line with sustainable development goals.
She enumerated the programmes and achievements of the REYReP to include girls uphold your dignity, bright future for responsible boys, shelter of hope, follow your star, fight against gender based violence, pregnacare and various kinds of medical interventions amongst others.
“We have carefully tailored our works round the 16 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, which are well captured,” she said.
The first lady also listed free surgical intervention, eye restoration scheme, deworming exercise, educational intervention, presentation of grant and scholarship to students in tertiary institutions, back to school for students and entrepreneurial support for women empowerment as some of her major achievements in the last seven years.
She thanked her husband, Governor Udom Emmanuel, whom she declared her pillar of support, donor agencies and members of her team for standing by her to drive her vision.
Governor Emmanuel applauded his wife, Martha, for standing in the gap for the less privileged and expressed satisfaction on the impact she has made in the past seven years.
He, however, decried the high level of moral decadence in the society and harped on the need for parents, religious organisations and traditional institutions to rise to their responsibilities in training the children, especially boys, to help curb social menace in the society.
He gave his wife the assurance of his unwavering support for the ongoing fight against “Gender Based Violence” and expressed his disappointment over sexual abuses by parents against their children.
