No fewer than 340 indigent women have been empowered with N100,000.00 each at the 2024 Abia Women August Delegates Conference (AWADEC).
Speaking at the occasion yesterday in the state capital, Umuahia, the state governor, Alex Otti, said women are the pillars upon which the superstructures that guarantee the enduring progress of every society are rested.
In an address entitled, ”Pillars of enduring support” , he said, “Today’s theme, ‘Utilising Growth Opportunities Amid Current Economic Challenges,’ speaks to the reality of the times, as Her Excellency Priscilla Otti has rightly pointed out.”
“It also invites us to think outside the box because at the moment, we clearly have no other options. Like Her Excellency, I will also refuse to blame anyone for the crisis.
“I would rather see the economic upheavals in the land as an opportunity to turn from our past bad behaviours, start afresh and then, with persistence, reclaim our place in the world,” he said.
Speaking earlier, the wife of the governor, Precillia Otti said the occasion was a great time to be a woman in the state because it was a new dawn for them.
“As you will all agree with me, a lot more has happened in the last 12 months because we have the most women-friendly administration in the history of our dear state,” she asserted.
She argued that women, in the new Abia, have been given the opportunity to thrive and excel, show their mettle, and break new grounds in administration and public service.
“Through your diligence and never-say-never disposition to life, you have demonstrated that the classic definition of a woman is one who can do so much, with so little,” she added.
The commissioner for women affairs and poverty alleviation, Blessing Felix, in a remark, noted that the ocassion will afford the delegates avenue to interact, note their challenges and find solutions to them.
Other highlights of the occasion included lectures, agricultural and cultural exhibitions, and the distribution of rice and other food items to the privileged and vulnerable.
