Patience Leonard, PBA Journalism MenteeTo mark the celebration of International Widow’s Day, Ms. Victoria Amede has charged Nigerian widows not to buy pity for themselves but upgrade and stand strong to earn respect due to them.
Amede gave the advice during a gathering of widows at Utomi Widow’s Support Centre (WSC), a sub organisation of Center for Values in Leadership (CVL) founded by Prof. Pat Utomi in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The ceremony was also to flag off a programme titled “Adopt a widow” to cater for the needs of indigent women in the society with a consistent amount of funding.
Ms. Amede, the coordinator of Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), during the event charged the widows to be courageous about their status. She also said they should refrain from creating burdens for other people because of their situation and learn to keep their children under one fold.
She further urged them to learn how to maintain their lives and children and desist from putting their lives out for the public.
The president of WSC, Mrs. Rhoda Njokwu explained how the organisation has been supportive since she joined in 2012. She mentioned that members have been beneficiaries of a lot of loans, cloth materials, food items, finance, and scholarship education for their children.
She said, “Those things our husbands’ relations cannot do for us, Prof. Utomi is doing it single handedly. He taught us how to reach out to other widows to give assistance too.”
The attention of the government and other influential personalities were called by the representative to support the centre. Mrs. Njokwu challenged the government, saying, “If a man can single-handedly run such organisation, what more the government? The government should come in and help him help widows.”
Meanwhile, a floor member of the organisation, Mrs. Comfort Esien admitted that she has been hearing lots of testimonies but yet to benefit a loan. She revealed that she is a tailor and needs expansion for her business. She therefore enjoin the organisation for support.
Commending the single effort of Prof. Utomi, she said “ I don’t know any governor or senator but government should encourage him.”
However, the executive director of the centre, Ms. Isioma Utomi explained that the celebration of widows day is a day to focus on the needs of widows such as getting legal suits for their rights, access to loans, helping their children through standard education etc.
“It is not easy being a widow anywhere in the world but in Nigeria, there are particular issues they have to deal with. Some are blamed for the death of their husbands, unfounded hardship after husband’s death, unsupportive judicial treatments, property acquisitions challenge, and others.
“It is our duty as an organisation to enlighten widows on their rights. They need to encourage spouses to write wills.” she explained.
Isioma also charged husbands to write wills while they are alive. She said “If you love your wives and want to protect your children after your death, you’ll write wills.”
She however revealed that they are getting more male allies who understand why it is a worthy effort to understand the plight of widows.
Also, she commended the government effort in promoting women affairs for visibility but urged them to do more specifically for widows.
Widows Support Centre has been in existence for over 30 years. The center was established to address injustices faced by Nigerian widows. It focuses more on education and empowerment of widows of the centre.
Primarily located in Lagos, the centre has overtime organized programmes bringing thousands of widows in Nigeria together. It has won legal cases for thousands of women and provided scholarships and skills acquisition for a good number of their children.
READ ALSO: Prof Utomi Seeks Legislation To Protect Rights Of Widows In Nigeria
Commenting on the ‘Adopt A Widow’ programme, Prof. Utomi appreciated the efforts of Dr. Ade Alakija (late) who has helped tremendously in adopting a good number of widows.
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