By; PATRICK TITUS, Uyo
No fewer than 400 female youth in Akwa Ibom State smiled home with cash, starter packs and certificates as empowerment to enable them stand out economically, courtesy of the wife of the governor, Dr Martha Udom Emmanuel.
The event was part of activities in the state to mark the seventh anniversary of Mrs. Emmanuel’s pet project, “Family Empowerment and Youth Reorientation Path Initiative (FEYReP)”.
The gesture, according to the governor’s wife, is in line with one of the objectives of FEYReP, which is to empower women to provide economic and emotional support to their families.
Speaking at the seventh anniversary celebration of FEYReP at Ibom Hall, Uyo, Mrs Emmanuel said the beneficiaries were drawn from the 31 local government areas of the state on completion of their training on different vocations ranging from; tailoring, hair dressing, barbing and cobbling.
She listed items distributed to include sewing machines, hair dryers, cobbling machine, cash and other items needed to start the journey to entrepreneurship.
While warning beneficiaries against selling off the items, the First Lady said her goal is to ensure that women, especially wives and mothers are gainfully engaged to add value to their respective families. ” No woman should remain a housewife, so that you can support your husbands”. She said.
In line with other objectives of FEYReP which include to; create a platform to showcase successful families, advocate for the prevention of teenage pregnancy and education of the girl-child and to create a platform for promoting moral values and economic excellence in the youths, Dr Emmanuel said she has devoted the past seven years to service to humanity in line with sustainable development goals.
She enumerated programmes and achievements she has so far executed to include; girls uphold your dignity, bright future for responsible boys, shelter of hope, follow your star, fight against gender based violence, pregnacare and various kinds of medical interventions amongst others.
In her words, “We have carefully tailored our works round the 16 sustainable development goals of the United Nations which are well captured in the following areas:
“GIRLS UPHOLD YOUR DIGNITY CAMPAIGN
FEYReP implemented the Girls uphold your dignity campaign which took enlightenment messages on HIV and AIDS, VVF, teenage pregnancy, rape and the rights of the girl child to secondary schools across the state.
“BRIGHT FUTURE FOR RESPONSIBLE BOYS
The advocacy also gave birth to a program tagged “Bright Future for Responsible Boys”. Noticing that the boy child appears neglected, left dangling on the cliff of social ruins, consumed by drug abuse/ addiction, cultism, rape, promiscuity and other vices, FEYReP stemmed the tide by educating the boys on sexual orientation and need for financial independence. The innovative approach has rescued our young boys from the clutches of abandonment and neglect.
“FIGHT AGAINST GENDER BASED VIOLENCE:
As the Chairperson of the GBV Committee in the State, I and my team have built a State GBV Rehabilitation Centre in Uyo, and established Sexual Assault Referral Centre across the three Senatorial District with free medical care.
“SHELTER OF HOPE PROJECT:
Through FEYReP within the period under review, we have successfully built, furnished and delivered 62 two and three units bedroom bungalows to the poor and indigent citizens of Akwa Ibom which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and it is still counting.
“MARTHA PREGNACARE PROGRAMME:
An outreach Programme which is geared towards reducing infant morbidity and maternal mortality in the state where over 7000 expectant mothers across the 31 Local Government Areas have received free Medicare, cash, as well as delivery kits. This exercise has been conducted in 10 phases.
The Akwa Ibom first lady also listed free surgical intervention, eye restoration scheme, deworming exercise, educational intervention, presentation of grant and scholarship to students in tertiary institutions, back to school for students and entrepreneural support for women empowerment, as some of her major achievements in the last seven years.
She thanked her husband, Governor Udom Emmanuel whom she declared her pillar of support, donor agencies and members of her team for standing by her to drive her vision.
Addressing the occasion, the governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel applauded his wife Martha for standing in the gap for the less privileged and expressed satisfaction on the impact she has made in the past seven years.”
The Governor however decried high level of moral decadence in the society and harped on the need for parents, religious organizations and traditional institutions to rise to the responsibility of training the children especially boys, as this would help curb the menace in the society.
He assured Mrs Emmanuel of his unwavering support on her ongoing fight against Gender Based Violence and expressed specifically his disappointment over sexual abuses by parents against children.
