Akwa Ibom State Governor’s wife, Mrs Martha Emmanuel, on Monday, inaugurated the ONNA local government chapter of Eket Senatorial District Women Forum, even as she distributed empowerment items including cash gifts to 350 members of the forum to assist them in their businesses.
At the inauguration ceremony held in Abat, headquarters of ONNA local government area, Mrs Emmanuel charged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of what they have received in order to become economically independent.
Some of the items also distributed to the women courtesy of the governor’s wife and the Eket senatorial district women forum included sewing machines, cooking materials/gas cylinders for restaurant operators, grinding machines, hair dryers and accessories, and power generator sets, among others.
Beneficiaries who attended the occasion were drawn from each of the political wards in ONNA local government area, and they are widows, physically challenged, cultural groups, women council and market women.
Mrs Emmanuel enjoined members of the forum in ONNA, particularly the new executives, to see the gesture as a call to service and to cooperate with each other for a successful tenure.
She said that the forum was put together to foster unity among women in Eket Senatorial District, adding that empowerment of women remained the core vision of the forum.
She said, “the forum is meant to go out to all the local government areas and see how we can help our fellow sisters to stand on their feet so that they can provide for their families”.
Mrs Emmanuel thanked the women for the backing they have been giving her husband, saying that the support has energized her and the governor to remain committed to societal development.
She thanked her husband, Governor Udom Emmanuel for supporting her vision, and the men of the Eket senatorial district for supporting the programme.
She also thanked the wife of the Chairman of ONNA local government and leader of the forum in the area, Mrs. Idorenyin Ekanem, for adequately mobilizing the women of ONNA to make their own contributions to the programme.
Earlier in her welcome remarks, Mrs Idorenyin Ekanem expressed gratitude to the governor’s wife for her magnanimity and for all she has been doing for the needy across the state.
Mrs Ekanem said that the gestures would go a long way in putting smiles on the faces of the beneficiaries in ONNA local government area.
Goodwill messages were received from the Chairman of ONNA local government area, Hon. Iniabasi Ekanem, Coordinator of the Family Empowerment and Youth Re-Orientation Path-Initiative (FEYReP), Mrs Ime Ephraim Inyang-Eyen; Women Affairs Commissioner, Dr Ini Adiakpan; wife of ONNA Paramount Ruler, Obonganwan Mrs Raymond Inyang; wife of the member representing Eket federal constituency in the National Assembly, Mrs Pat Ifon, former ONNA chairman and former federal lawmaker, Deaconess Owoidighe Ekpoattai, and Mr Ekerette Emmanuel, among others.
Highpoint of the occasion was the unveiling of a building design for the proposed Mrs Martha Udom Emmanuel Development and Skills acquisition center, the project the governor’s wife assured would be completed before 2023.
