The wife of Ondo State Governor, Mrs Betty-Anyanwu Akeredolu, says empowerment and emancipation of women are of utmost importance to Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu since the beginning of his administration.
Mrs Akeredolu said this when she met with market women on Wednesday in Okitipupa, Okitipupa Local Government Area of the state.
She said that her pet projects — Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), BEMORE and the Ondo Widows Care project, meant to give palliatives to widows were to ensure that women were recognised and empowered in the society.
According to her, women are the pillars of the society and their contributions to the development of the economy cannot be overemphasised.
She said “I am entrenching the Widows Care to market women in the state, so, I urge them to register their names to benefit from Akeredolu’s soft loans to boost their businesses.
“We have already registered no fewer than 25,000 widows under the Widow’s Care and we gave palliatives to no fewer than 20,000.
“This is not political because when we began the registration for the Widow’s Care, we did not ask for political parties, so I urge our market women, irrespective of their political affiliations, to register to benefit from the soft loans.”
The governor’s wife said that the husband is a man that loves the advancement of women and will never discriminate against them “because for any economy to thrive, women must not be discriminated.
“That is why the empowerment of women is my utmost priority since the beginning of this administration.” Akeredolu said
She also urged women to participate actively in politics “to wrestle power from men who have dominated the economic, social and political spheres.”
While responding on behalf of the market women, Mrs Dorcas Alale, the Iyaloja-General of Okitipupa Local Government Area, thanked the governor’s wife and assured that all women were behind the government.
Alale said that the achievements of Akeredolu in infrastructural development in the last four years would automatically earn him re-election.