Kunle ADELABU
-Says the scheme will be a continuous exercise
-Wives of ‘Geleti’, other slain Onyabo vigilance group members also get supports
In his quest to ensure that no part of his constituency is left behind in his empowerment initiatives, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, the Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly and the representative of the Ikorodu Constituency I, has finalised plans to give business supports to over 70 widows in Ikorodu.
The widows would be presented with materials of their respective trade while others who are yet to start any trade will be given start-up materials for their chosen businesses during a mega empowerment programme which would hold at Ikorodu Town hall on Wednesday, August 29, 2018.
Beneficiaries, who were picked from religious organizations, All Progressives Congress (APC), teaching profession, various tribes, market association, wives of late members of Onyabo vigilance group who died in active service and others, were trained by the officials of the Women Advocacy Research and Documentation Centre (WARD C) at the Hon. Agunbiade’s Constituency Office on Saturday, August 25, 2018.
The facilitator of the training programme tagged, ‘Moving from heartbroken to healing’, Dr Abiola Akinyode Afolabi, who was represented at the event by Mrs Mary Peluola, enjoined the widows to be engaged and seek support whenever the need arises.
“The best way to step away from the darkness of your life into the light is to get yourself engaged. You cannot forever blame yourself or allow yourself to be blamed for the death of your husbands.
“You need to get yourself engaged socially, mentally, economically and physically. These are the ways to live a fulfilled and responsible life.
“Programme like this instituted by Hon. Agunbiade is very important in helping and assisting widows to get over their trauma and such must be encouraged in our society”, she stated.
“I thank him (Hon Agunnbiade) for instituting a programme like this for the benefit of the widows. We are also going to follow your progress after the empowerment by the lawmaker.
“There is need for you to be engaged in activities that would not only sustain your life, but which can also take care of your children who have now become your responsibility.
“You need to make them productive by training them to achieve their dreams irrespective of what might have happened because it is only when they become successful and useful in life that they can stand and fight for you.”
The facilitator also stated that WARD C is available to take up any widow’s matter with no cost if they are in need of legal or any other form of assistance.
“For those of you who are in need of legal help or any other intervention, please, feel free to approach us. We render our services for free.
“If you have to get legal assistance to retrieve your husband’s inheritance from his families or any other person, you need to do that very fast and we are always ready to assist for free.
“We have trained some people as paralegal officers when we discovered that cases of domesticate abuse on women have become rampant in Ikorodu. Women suffering abuses can also approach them for intervention.”
Mrs Peluola listed other duties of WARD- C to include educating, documenting and follow-up on the activities of women.
Hon. Agunbiade, while speaking at the event, stated that the programme has been in the pipeline for a while but was delayed because of other activities.
“We have had this programme for the widows in the pipeline for a while, but we have been doing one programme after another and God says it’s now the turn of the widows.
“We have been touching other sectors of the society which I believe some of you would have benefitted directly or indirectly from, but now, it’s time for our programme which is basically for the widows.
“We intend to do the programme from time-to-time because our aim is to meaningfully impact on every aspect of the society.
He stated that women play important role in keeping the society going and that there is every need to support them.
“Women are the salt of life and nobody can be successful without them hence, it is incumbent on the society to take good care of them. When women are free and empowered, the society is also free and empowered”, Hon. Agunbiade stated.
We are having this training today because of our desire to teach our widows how to catch fish and not to just give them fish. We are to train you on how to start a new life all over again without begging but by starting a modest business and with discipline, it could grow into million naira investments.
“I know of people who started businesses with few thousands of naira and today, the businesses have grown into million naira businesses.
“You need to bring some innovations into your business dealings if you are going to make your business distinct from others. You need to brand yourself and make people patronize you instead of going to others.
“There are people who sell Moinmoin and Ofada rice in Ijebu and there is no time that I go to this axis that I will not patronize them because of the packages.
“This programme is borne out of request for assistance by widows but I felt that widowhood should not be an excuse or reason to beg and turn yourself to nuisance. With adequate support, you can pick up yourself again and live a normal life for yourself and your children.
“Come August 29 at Ikorodu Town hall, we are going to empower you with materials of your needs as you have requested for.”
“Some of those that we are supporting with businesses are wives of late Onyabo chieftains and members who died in active service to the community. It’s our way of supporting them and make them see that their husbands had not died in vain”, Hon. Agunbiade stated.
Alhaji Kabat Babatunde Ajalogun, the Director-General of Hon. Agunbiade Campaign group, in his own remarks, stated that the programme is not instituted because of election but a way of supporting those in need.
He also enjoined the beneficiaries to ensure that they use the materials that would be given to them for their businesses and not divert them into other use.
Hon. Azeez Jimoh Olosugbo, the Director-General, Onward Movement of Nigeria (the lawmaker’s operational group), while also speaking, stated:
“We are not only training you and giving you business supports, we are also bringing in WARD C to start proper documentation of widows in Ikorodu so that those of you on their databank would have access to benefits from the government and international organizations.
“From time-to-time, WARD C will also engage you in training and retraining and also follow-up and monitor your progress.
Hon. Olosugbo also listed some of the achievements of Hon. Agunbiade.
“This is the inaugural edition of our programme tagged ‘Widow’s mite’. We intends to do this periodically and like our existing schemes, this too would be vigorously and successfully pursued.
“On the same day that we shall be giving you the materials, we shall also be doing the 8th edition of the free interest loan for market men and women, making presentation to hundreds of okada riders according to their requests, bringing in officials of the Road Safety to issue drivers’ license to members of NURTW and RTEAN who had gone through sponsored training and many others.
“We have also had three editions of the Independence Day Mini-Marathon tagged ‘Oba Kabir Shotobi Independence Day Marathon’, five editions of the ‘Best Brain Constest’ among schools across Ikirodu division, and three editions of skill acquisition empowerment.
“In our quest to revive our dying culture, we also have succeeded in reviving and staging Asa festival which has now been recognized by the state government and has also gotten international recognition. We are planning for the second edition which will come up later this year. These are just some of our intervention programmes.
