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Soroptimist Calls For Sustained Empowerment, Mentorship For Girl Child

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1 year ago

April 5, 2022

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Mrs Stephanie Apel, Charter President, Soroptimist International (SI) Maitama, has called for the continuous empowerment and mentorship of the girl child in order to secure fair, progressive and evenly developed society.

She made the call in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the official change of insignia and installation of a new president for the association on Saturday evening in Abuja.

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According to Apel, the girl child is a potential wife and mother that must be empowered and supported because her success or failure will reflect on the larger society tomorrow.

She therefore urged Civil Society Groups and government at all levels to give utmost attention to programmes and initiative geared towards the education, empowerment and mentoring of the girl child. push({});

“One thing I always say about empowering the girl child is the fact that when a woman gives birth, as a mother, is that woman that stays with the baby for the first five years.

“So those our big boys that we are expecting to become presidents of Nigeria, if you don’t empower the woman that is going to train them what kind of president are they going to train.

“If we want to have good leaders, we must have good mothers that will train these good leaders because these children are always with us.

“Since the men are not always around, the wives that will always stay with these children must be trained because you can’t give what you don’t have,” she said

Buhari declares Mondays, Wednesdays ‘made-in-Nigeria dress’ day — Mrs Stephanie Apel Charter President Soroptimist International, SI and Others at an event in Abuja, Nigeria recently.

Apel, who served as the pioneer president of SI Maitama, said the association in the past two years was committed to providing education and entrepreneurial skills for females in rural communities around the Federal Capital Territory(FCT)

She said the association under her watch, has worked with relevant stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) of quality education and Gender Equality (SDG5).

She added that the association was also committed to marking relevant UN days such as the International Literacy Day (ILD) with milestone projects that affect the girl child.

“Basically what we do as Soroptimist is empowering women and girls because SI is a women organisation, and we work for the advancement of women and girls.

“I started SI Maitama in 2019, and in spite of the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic our Girls Empowerment Project took us to Senior Secondary School Mpape.

“We gave one year scholarship to 20 girls in their final year who otherwise would have found it difficult graduating, and I am proud to say they are currently writing their senior Secondary Examinations.

“In our bid to provide economic empowerment we also trained rural women in Gaube community in liquid soap making, gave them raw materials to start their businesses, and we have been following them up.

“Within this period, we also embarked on several health sensitisation visits to female schools around the FCT where we distributed sanitary pads to young girls,” she said.

The immediate past president therefore urged her successor and her team to wholeheartedly embrace and pursue the objectives of the association through involvement in projects and initiatives that empower and make life meaningful to women.

Earlier in her remarks, the incoming president of SI Maitama, Ijeoma-Victoria Ogbonna, pledged to build on the successes recorded by the immediate past president by initiating projects that would benefit women and the girl.

“I hereby solicit the support and co-operation of everyone here, including our distinguished quests to make this dream a reality,” she said.

Soroptimist International (SI), founded in 1921 is a worldwide volunteer service organization for women who work for peace, and in particular to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities.

Its membership work on grassroots projects that help women and girls achieve their individual and collective potential, realise aspirations and have an equal voice in communities worldwide.

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Abdulrahman Obaje

Prince Abdulrahman Obaje is a Media and ICT Consultant, Journalist, online marketer, social media strategist, Mathematician and Computer Scientist based in Abuja, Nigeria. He is the Founder and the Publisher of The Informavores!. You can reach me on +234 805 939 5252 or send i-witness report directly to me on news@informavores.com.ng.

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Organ Trafficking: Ekweremadu, Wife, Doctor Sentenced To Various Prison Terms

Published

1 month ago

May 6, 2023

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The duo of Ekweremadu, former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice, and Doctor Obinna Obeta has been senenced to various jail terms for bringing a 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney.

A judge at The Central Criminal Court, [ Old Bailey], announced the sentence friday.

At a sentencing hearing on Friday, Ekweremadu was jailed for nine years and eight months, his wife Beatrice was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment while Obeta received a 10-year prison term.

The sentencing follows their conviction in March for organ trafficking, The Ekweremadus’sick daughter, Sonia was cleared of any wrongdoing.

1rem;">The three were found guilty after arranging or facilitating a young Nigerian man’s travel into the United Kingdom in a bid to obtain his kidney on behalf of Sonia.

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The jury said Ekweremadu, his wife and their doctor criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney.

The conviction is the first under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015.

The sentencing comes after pleas from multiple prominent personalities and institutions, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

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Other petitioners included both chambers of the National Assembly, the Chairman/CEO, Nigeria in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Erewa Dabiri, and the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC).

The charges were preferred on the Ekweremadus on June 23, 2022, when their arrest was announced. Obeta was later arraigned on July 13, 2022. While his wife was granted bail, the senator was refused.

After months of a pre-trial, the trial commenced on January 31, 2023 and lasted about six weeks, culminating in a guilty verdict against Ekweremadu, Beatrice, and Obeta.

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Reps Seek UK Government Clemency for Ekweremadu

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1 month ago

May 3, 2023

Abdulrahman Obaje

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The House of Representatives has write to the government of the United Kingdom seeking mercy in sentencing the embattled Ike Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice.

This is contained in a resolution reached following a motion moved by Toby Okechukwu, a lawmaker from Enugu State.

A UK court found the duo guilty of conspiracy of organ harvesting of another Nigerian. The Ekweremadu couple will be sentenced in the coming days.

Moving the motion, Okechukwu said diplomatic intervention in this kind of case is normal.

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“It is a common practice in international relations for nations, including the UK, to seek relief for their citizens involved in situations such as that of the Ekweremadus,” he said.

Speaking on the motion, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House, said intervention by the House is not a justification for the charges against the Ekweremadus. He urged the UK government to consider Ekweremadu’s years of public service.

Consequently, the House resolved to urge the UK government and the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing Ekweremadu, his wife and the doctor.

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Also, they urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to take all diplomatic steps and other necessary interventions regarding the travails of the Ekweremadu family.

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HYPPDEC Donates Food Stuff, Clothing to Locals in Kogi to Tackle Cashless Policy Effect

Published

3 months ago

March 8, 2023

Joseph Amedu

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By Joseph Amedu, Lokoja

The Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPDEC), on Tuesday, donated 400 bags of rice, 250 gallons of vegetable oil and some packaged women rappers to ten Local Government Areas in Kogi State under the agency to cushion the effect associated with the new cashless policy.

Making the presentation to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State at the Lugard House, Lokoja on Tuesday, a Board Member of HYPPDEC, Alhaji Isah Ozi Salami, said that the gesture is part of the agency’s intervention in times of natural disaster or any hardship situation on citizens.

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Salami expressed the commitment of HYPPDEC in tackling the prevailing economic hardship on Nigerians as a result of the Cashless Policy.

“We owe it as a duty to take adquate care of the people in the 10 Local Government Areas belonging to HYPPDEC communities in Kogi

“Our concern under the present economic hardship is to alleviate the sufferings of the people within HYPPDEC communities in Kogi” Ozi Salami told Governor Bello.

He commended Governor Yahaya Bello for the provision of logistic supports that have facilitated smooth operation of the agency in Kogi.

He also told the Governor that HYPPDEC will soon begin the construction of 50 housing units in Kogi for resettlement of last year’s flood victims in riverine communities.

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“I appreciate Governor Bello’s magnanimity in providing land for the housing project. The Governor is expected to perform the foundation laying ceremony of the project” Ozi Salami disclosed.

The Chief of Staff to Governor Bello, Jamiu Asuku who received the food stuff on behalf of his boss, hinted that Kogi will key into HYPPDEC’s intervention initiative in the areas of provision of food and security of lives and property for citizens.

Governor Yahaya Bello appealed to HYPPDEC to focus more on Ibaji Local Government Area in its intervention programme as a result of the bad terrain of the area.