The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NCWS

  • Yobe women urge leaders to fight Boko Haram

    Yobe women urge leaders to fight Boko Haram

    Yobe State women have urged the Federal Government to bring back the schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram sect from Chibok in Borno State.

    The women stressed that “our leaders need to put politics aside and join hands to defeat our common enemy”.

    They said time was running out for the rescue of the girls.

    The state president of National Council for Women Society (NCWS), Hajia Halima Joda, led the women in a peaceful but sad protest to the Ministry of Women Affairs.

    She said: “We call on all other leaders to put aside their political differences and join hands with the Federal Government to act responsibly and decisively to defeat our common enemies.

    “Time is running out and Nigerians are becoming impatient… The innocent girls must not be left to their fate or their grieving parents to be left in their tears. They have the right to be protected, as enshrined in our constitution…”

    The women were received by the Commissioner of Women Affairs, Hajiya Asmau Kabir Kolo, on behalf of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam.

    The commissioner, who showed serious emotion, urged the women to continue to pray for the girls’ safe return.

    According to her, Allah’s ways are different from humans and He will surely hear the cries of the parents and everybody across the world to ensure the girls’ safety.

    Hajia Kolo stressed that evil would never triumph over good.

     

    The commissioner promised to deliver the women’s letter to Gaidam for onward transmission to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Highlights of the occasion included prayers from various women for the safe return of the schoolgirls.

  • Pharmacists, NCWS meet to fight drug abuse

    The Association of Lady Pharmacists is to partner the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) to fight drug abuse.

    Its president, Zainab Sharrif, spoke in Abuja when she led a delegation to the NCWS president, Mrs. Nkechi Mba.

    She said the intake of drugs by youths is alarming, stressing the need for drastic measures to be taken against it.

    “Children today take overdose of Benylin syrup and other drugs capable of intoxicating them. This is harmful to their health. We will soon organise a programme called ‘Catch them young’, where we will invite youths and mothers and talk to them on the dangers of drugs,” Zainab Sharrif said.

    She suggested that a vegetable market should be built in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where fresh and dry vegetables could be bought, “as Nigeria is blessed with these.”

    She said if properly managed, the market could attract foreigners and boost small scale businesses.

    Mrs. Mba urged the group to visit the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, “as she ensures women projects adoption.”

    The NCWS president said she would assist in sending the proposal to President Goodluck Jonathan, who she noted believed in women.

    The Executive Director of the Unity In Diversity Initiative (UIDI), Dr. Chinyere Osuchukwu, has led a delegation of the group to visit the NCWS to seek collaboration with the council in order to curb restiveness.

    She said UIDI is poised to advance the fight against violence, adding that if there must be sustainable peace, women issues must be prioritised.

    “We believe if we must end this conflict legacy, which has battered our image as a nation, mothers need to encourage more cross-border relationships and mixed marriages among our youths. This is because people from such relationships and marriages will work hard to improve ties among citizens,” Dr. Osuchukwu said.

    Mrs. Mba assured the group of the council’s support. She said she would do her best to enlighten women on the need to fight insecurity.

  • ‘Marriage should not be a death sentence’

    ‘Marriage should not be a death sentence’

    Tolerance has been described as the most important factor in making a marriage work. But tolerance should not be over stretched in order not to make a partner suffer unduly.

    According to the Executive Director, Project Alert on Violence Against Women, Mrs Josephine Chukwuma, many women suffer in marriages in the name of tolerance.

    She spoke on tolerance in marriage at a workshop organised by the National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS) at Ikeja, the Lagos state capital.

    Mrs Chukwuma said some acts, such as domestice violence, should not be tolerated in marriages.

    She said domestic violence breaks the heart, relationships, families and, in some cases, it ends lives. Domestic violence includes: physical abuse/assault, verbal abuse, psychological/emotional abuse, sexual abuse and child abuse.

    She presented some pictorial examples of women who were victims of domestic violence, all in the name of tolerance. One of such examples was a woman who was stabbed with a bottle on the eye by her husband, leaving her totally blind on the left and partially blind on the right eye.

    She disclosed that in a study in the Southwest said 70 per cent of women complain of verbal abuse, noting that unlike physical abuse where the injury is seen, verbal abuse is not identifiable and it is like time bombs which can make a woman explode.

    Mrs Chukwuma, who has spent 16 years handling violence against women, said marriage should not be a death sentence, hence the need for people to know they cannot be tolerant unto death.

    However, she noted that couples need to be tolerant with each other to have a blissful union.

    “Tolerance is a magical factor that can not only help strengthen marriage relationships but also help in enjoying little moments of happiness in marriage,” she said.

    Earlier in her presentation, she described tolerance as the ability to put up with differences, overlook ad accept partner’s negatives with patience. The Project Alert Director said that tolerance is best practiced when one or both partners choose not to argue or respond to everything.

    Lagos State President of NCWS, Mrs Iyabo Osifeso said both husband and wife should learn to tolerate each other and the in-laws as the society does not support the western ideology of ‘me and my husband’.

    The president insisted that if husbands can tolerate their wives and the women can do the same, there will be less divorce in the society and domestic violence will be reduced to the barest minimum.

  • ‘This is Ajegunle!’

    ‘This is Ajegunle!’

    When members of the National Council of Women Society (NCWS), Ikeja chapter, left their comfort zone for Ajegunle, the Jungle City, nothing prepared them for the different world they experienced. Evelyn Osagie reports.

     •NCWS donates food items to charity

    Heaps of dirt and feaces littered the streets. This was expected. After all, is it not Ajegunle, that seedy part of Lagos? Members of the National Council of Women Society (NCWS), Ikeja chapter, were prepared for what they saw; yet they were moved to tears.

    Despite the visitors’ presence, some young and old men were busy smoking Indian hemp in front of their houses with relish. As if that was not enough, a young boy drew his pants down, stooped and emptied his bowels openly in front of the visitors.

    Watching the drama, the chapter chair, Chief May Akiode and those with her, said: “What is this?”

    “This is Ajegunle replied a tour guide, indifferently, as she walked past them with a look that says, “you have not see anything yet”.

    These were some of the things the NCWS members encountered on their visit to a section of Ajegunle. Things have not changed much from what they are in the place, but the women who were visiting a charity home mentoring children in the area, LOTS Charity Foundation, were shocked. They sought to put smiles on the children’s faces but got more than they bargained for. “This is not an environment to bring up children. The area is generally sick,” Mrs Akiode said.

    “Please, bear with what you are seeing here,” said Akeem Akinyo in Yoruba while receiving them during the visit.

    He said the area’s geographical location is its undoing, adding: “We are surrounded with so much developments but the area is underdeveloped. Our location is our problem. Since we are in the heart of the city, we are not usually considered as a rural area but we need as much attention as that which is given to the rural areas.”

    But, in spite of the odds, Akinyo said, the people are daily ekeing out a living for themselves. He boasted of the status of Ajegunle in the polity, saying it is an apt reflection of the popular maxim, “unity in diversity”.

    “Our people have continued to make something out of their lives, no matter the challenges they face. We, in Ajegunle, are rugged and that is why we outshine others anywhere we go. Look at the countless stars that have come out of this place. The place grooms and prepares you for life. I came to the area as a young man and the children I gave birth to here are already in the universities. It is unfortunate that our leaders are are not tapping into the many talents that are in the area. We, as community leaders, are trying our best, but how far can our efforts go.

    “We praise the efforts of LOTS Foundation and its founder. She has tried for the community: teaching our children and giving free them extramural lessons. My children are now very sharp and are one of the best in their classes. We are proud of her. She even donates food to the children’s parents. The one she gave me, especially last Christmas, came in handy. As we had many who did not have food to eat during that period. I ended up sharing what I received from LOTS with them, ” he said.

    The visit of the NCWS’s members was inspired by the words of LOTS’s founder, Miss Tolu Sangosanya, from who they first heard of the community. Moved by what she had said and her work in the area, they came to see for themselves and give their widow’s mite to support the foundation’s work, according to Chief Akiode, who is also the managing director, Frimalex Nigeria Ltd.

    She said: “While she was speaking about her work in the community and the plight of the people living here, everybody was touched, and many were moved to tears. She solicited our support then. And we decided to come and to encourage her and see things for ourselves so we can help carry the story to our friends and well-meaning Nigerians. NCWS is a non-partisan organisation, established over 50 years ago, with women from all spheres of society (from the federal, state and local level). And it is geared towards charity.”

    She decried the state of the living condition of people living in the area, while calling on the government to look into their plight. “To reduce mortality rate the government and well-meaning Nigerians should come to their aids. And that is why we are here to do our bit. We hope to put smiles in their faces in our own little way and encourage them that there is still hope. I see future doctors, teachers, lawyers among the children,” she said.

    Members of NCWS also commended the efforts of LOTS founder, urging Nigerians to emulate her, saying such deeds would help build the nation. They donated foodstuff, drinks clothing and toiletries, among others. “We have see things for ourselves and are proud of what she is doing here. But she needs financial support from government, well-meaning Nigerians, corporate organisations and other NGOs. We hope to spread this news in our local government and solicit support even from among our friends and other clubs. We would urge them on the need to stretch their hands of fellowship, especially to the people here,” they said.

    LOTS founder also bewailed the wasting away of potentials in the area, urging the government to explore ways of harnessing them for nation-building. “There are so many talents wasting away here. These talents, particularly those of the youths, can be harnessed properlly and channelled to bring about national development. LOTS Foundation believes in catching them young and that is why we are working with children. We seek to breed future leaders.”

    Other members of NCWS on the visit were the Special Assistant to Ikeja Local Government, Secretary NCWS, Mrs Shola Awodiran; Secretary to the Local Government (SLG) Onigbongbo LCDA, Megal Olufunmilayo Bruce; Retired Director of Education and NCWS second Vice-President, Mrs Elisabeth Olufunso Akin; Assistant Director of Education, Lagos State Technical Education Services and Publicity Secretary NCWS Ikeja, Mrs Kunbi Olomola and Mrs Bola Ogunode.