A six-person delegation from Sierra Leone has arrived Calabar on a study tour of the initiatives of the wife of Cross River State Governor, Mrs. Obioma Liyel-Imoke.
The team was made up of, the Mayor of Makeni City Council, Mrs. Sunkarie K. Kamara; the Chairman of Bambali District Council, John Shanghai Koroma; Chief Administrator Makeni District Council, Alhaji Alahaji Banura; and his counterpart from Bombali Josaya Bangah as well as Dr. Adeyemi Suleman who represented the Nigerian High Commissionner to Sierra Leone, His Excellency, Ambassador Eyo Asuquo.
Briefing Mrs. Liyel-Imoke in her POWER Office, the leader of the team, Mrs. Sunkarie Kamara commended the good work she and her husband Senator Liyel Imoke are doing in Cross River State.
She explained that they were in the state to understudy Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER), an NGO initiated by Her Excellency, Mrs. Obioma Liyel-Imoke.
According to Mrs. Kamara, they chose POWER based on the reports they accessed about the organisation's successes based on its adoption of best practices and evidence based interventions. She expressed their desire to replicate POWER's model of intervention in Sierra Leone.
She also praised Nigeria's for her Big brother role in the African sub region and expressed optimism that their visit would further strengthen the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Her colleague, the Chairman of Bambali District, John Shanghai Koroma, said they were impressed with what they had seen in the state especially how POWER has sustainably empowered women through micro credit, stating that Sierra Leonean women and girls are deprived of certain things due to the patrilineal system of their society.
He expressed their readiness to collaborate with Mrs. Imoke's NGO in solving some of their social problems especially in providing technical support for successful women empowerment programs in their country.
He also discussed the issue of girl-child education as a big challenge and how to curb teenage pregnancy and street children problem through education and skills acquisition and commended POWER for achieving a lot in these areas.
The Founder and Board Chair Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER), MRS Obioma Liyel-Imoke, who noted the similarity between the Sierra Leone and Cross River, accepted to partner with the country through her POWER NGO to ameliorate some of the country's problems.
She said women empowerment is an imperative for National Development and intimated that, about 72% of women in Cross River State are farmers and that is why POWER is collaborating with financial institutions and some other government agencies in providing micro credit facility to women to make them self reliant.
She commended her husband for his gender-sensitive disposition and re-emphasized the need to create a favorable environment that can nurture children for the future.
She noted that the Senator Liyel-Imoke led administration has taken government to those who need it most by developing rural areas through road network and providing other social amenities.
She also commended the wife of the president Dame Patience Jonathan for her women for change initiative that brought the 35% affirmative action and pointed out that president Goodluck Jonathan has given women a fair share in his cabinet.
The Executive Director POWER Mrs. Tammie Kammonke made a presentation on POWER stating that its major objectives and vision and its strategic deliverables.
The Program Director, Society Fit for a Child Mr. Gerald Umeze spoke on Destiny's Child Centre, Mr. Silvanus Abua and Yusuf Dollah spoke on Glow Poject and Project Awake respectively.
Highpoint of the tour was the screening of a documentary on Cross River State.
Via: Cross River State Government - Official Press Release