Group to empower South West grassroots women The Women for Change and Development Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, set up by Nigeria’s first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has begun moves to empower grassroots women across the South-West zone of the country. Rising from an important South-West zonal meeting, presided over by the newly appointed South-West Zone Coordinator of the group, Chief Mrs. Yeye Abosede Ogunleye, in Ogun State, recently, all the state coordinators agreed to work together to ensure that majority of women in the grassroots, who are the ones feeling the effects of the present economic hardship, get maximum empowerment in the next few months. The coordinators at the meeting were those from Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ogun and Ekiti states. Also present were six coordinators from Lagos State. Speaking at the occasion, Yeye Ogunleye said that splitting Lagos into six was due to the peculiar nature of state as a mini Nigeria and its overwhelming population. For the NGO to effectively reach all the women in Lagos, three coordinators, Alhaja Idowu Akinanya, Chief Mrs. Dundun and Mrs. Sobajo are to coordinate the Yoruba women in Lagos, and Chief Mrs Onyekwere will head the Igbo, while Alhaja Olapade and Hajia Amina will coordinate the South-South and Arewa women respectively. Ogunleye said: “We have resolved that the most important thing right now is for all women in the group to work very hard to seek ways to empower the grassroots women by reaching out to women-friendly organisations, leaders in politics, religion and businesses to support us to realise this dream of the First Lady to educate and empower Nigerian women, irrespective of tribe or political affiliations.”
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 11:08:01 +0000