Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has vowed that the legacies of touching the lives of the underprivileged children, the aged and the downtrodden initiated by his late wife, Patience Eno, would be sustained even after his tenure.
He lauded his daughter, Lady Helen Eno Obareki, who had assumed the role of the acting first lady and coordinator of the activities of her late mother’s office for furthering the vision and aspirations of his departed wife, through the Golden Initiative For All (GIFA), which the foundation for the permanent secretariat has been laid at Ewet Housing Estate.
Governor Eno made the vow at the first anniversary celebration of GIFA, at Ibom Hall, Uyo, where he expressed delight with the ingenuity of Lady Obareki in driving her mother’s dream of enhancing family life, and bringing succour to the less-privileged to reality, despite the demise of its founder and progenitor.
According to the governor, the event was also to honour the memory, and celebrate the first posthumous birthday of the late first lady whose 57th birthday marked the launch of GIFA in 2024.
“Let me congratulate my dear daughter, the coordinator of the Office of the First Lady, Noble Lady Helen Obareki for stepping up and taking charge of this great Initiative.
“As you have so eloquently reeled out the achievements recorded in the last one year, it is evident that you have ticked the boxes in all the thematic areas and the impact has been deeply felt. Noble Lady, you have done well, and your mother and indeed all of us here are manifestly proud of you,” he said.
Recalling his wife’s humane disposition as a mother-hen, who takes care of the needs of others even at the expense of her comfort, the governor assured that his administration “will continue to further her beliefs through inclusion of women in all facets of his administration’s goals, and also, through programmes like the ARISE Elderly Care Initiative, ARISE Compassionate Homes as well as intervention on issues of maternal care and gender-based violence.
He also recalled her persistent appeals for 40 percent of women inclusion in the affairs of government, adding that most of the women who have been appointed to public offices are credits to the intervention of the late first lady.
In her address at the event, chairman of GIFA’s Board of Trustees (BoT), and coordinator, Office of the First Lady, Mrs Helen Oberaki, appreciated the governor’s support for the initiative and accorded him the honour of “Pillar of GIFA” which, she said, embodied her departed mother’s vision and passion for uplifting the lives of women, children, the elderly and the vulnerable people in society.
She enumerated the strides of GIFA in the past one year to include: school supplies for over 15,000 pupils, free healthcare for women in rural communities, economic empowerment of over 5,000 women, affirming that the impact of the initiative has been felt tremendously across the various fabrics of the state.
“At GIFA, our aim is to ensure that the global development framework, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), makes more meaning to the most vulnerable families in our state. It is on this note that I solicit your partnership and support in ensuring that we meet the target that we have before us,” she pleaded.
In her keynote address, the United Nations Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mrs Beatrice Eyong, paid tribute to the visioner and founder of GIFA, the late Mrs Eno, and commended the coordinator of the Office of the First Lady, Mrs Helen Obareki, for holding forth the vision to sustain the legacy of her late mother.
