Lagos first lady tells widows to get involved in politics

chika ebuzor

June 23, 2016 6:50 PM

Mrs. Ambode also noted that a widow without a vocational skill would be badly disadvantaged because she will depend on external support for everything.

Wife of the governor of Lagos State, Bolanle Ambode

The first lady of Lagos state,

Mrs Ambode said this while delivering the keynote address at an event in Surulere, Lagos state, organized by the Rose of Sharon Foundation, to mark the 2016 International Widows Day.

She spoke on the topic: ‘Widow’s Economic Empowerment and Political Participation: A call to Action.

She said a widow without empowerment, would be unstable and incapable of taking decisions on important issues affecting her and the children.

According to her, "Economic empowerment means everything to the widow… Empowerment helps the widow to stabilize in the midst of the storm; to gain her voice in the crowd; to swim against the tide and to take a firm decision when the odds are clearly against her."

She adviced them to take advantage of the skill acquisition programme of the state government which teaches many vocational skills in various centres across the state.

"At those centres, there is free training on decoration and event planning, fashion, tie and dye, soap-making, pomade-making, hair-dressing, catering and many more. The overall objective is to make widows financially independent and to become employers of labour," she added.

Speaking further, she advised the widows to make themselves socially relevant by engaging in active politics.

She also said "Bad as it may be for a woman to have lost her beloved spouse, that should not be the end of her own life too. In most cases, children are there to look after. Therefore, wowen, specifically widows should play active politics."

Mrs Bolanle Ambode also condemned the trend of domestic violence which has continued to plague the state and the country.

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chika ebuzor