National Widowhood Summit has been held in Uyo with the Honourable Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina calling on Government, Policy makers and stakeholders to promulgate laws that could reduce the plight of widows in Nigeria after the death of their husbands.
The Minister made the call recently during the opening ceremony of the 1st Widowhood Summit convened by the wives of the Governors of South/ South and South East Region in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The summit with the theme "Louder Please'', a Call for increased advocacy and Interventions on Widows Rights in Nigeria was facilitated by the Wife of Cross River State Governor, Mrs. Obioma Liyel-Imoke to commemorate the 2013 International Widows' Day.
Hajia Zainab was optimistic that through collective efforts, appropriate enlightenment, sensitization and advocacy, circumstances impeding the rights of widows and that of their children would be minimised.
She lamented that the number of widows have increased due to the recent spate of terrorism, inter-tribal wars as well as natural disasters in various parts of Nigeria, and however, assured that the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs was partnering with MTN Foundation under the "Widows Empowerment Scheme" to provide tools of trade and training to over 300 widows across the country to make them self reliant.
The Minister requested for data of widows from various states to enable the scheme be extended to widows in other States of the Federation.Speaking earlier, the facilitator of the summit and the wife of Cross River State Governor, Mrs Obioma Liyel-Imoke also Founder and Board Chair-Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER), disclosed that she facilitated the first ever summit in the country in order to reawaken the consciousness on the rights of widows.
Mrs. Imoke said she decided to collaborate with her colleagues to speak out so as to enable Government meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 regarding poverty reduction and gender equality.
The Host of the Summit and wife of the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mrs. Ekaette Akpabio said that although the wives of Governors in the South-East and South-South regions have their individual interventions on widows, their resolve to synergise was to draw national attention on the obnoxious culture militating against widows who have lost their spouses to the cold hands of death.
In their goodwill messages the member representing Calabar -Odukpani Federal Constituency, Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo, and Senator Helen Esuene as well as the Speaker Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Elder Sam Ikon, agreed that the traumatic practices of widowhood in Nigeria was a great challenge to national development and that the ugly trend could be stopped through a collective resolution.
The event witnessed presentation of gifts by the wife of Akwa Ibom State Governor to her colleagues and also presentations by the Ekemini Theatre Troupe Etighi Ambassadors, the Real Brass Band, as well as comedy by Gordons, Mandy and Helen who entertained during the opening ceremony.