- Urges Focus on Vulnerable Women, Export Potential
By Rose Oranye
The Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr Law Mefor, Wednesday, applauded Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s support for the Anambra State Nigeria For Women Program Scale-Up Project (AN-NFWP-SU), saying the project aligns directly with the Governor’s focus on women’s empowerment and inclusive governance.
Mefor, who gave the assurance while receiving a delegation from the project, led by the State Project Coordinator, Hope Okoye, at his office in the Jerome Udoji Secretariat, Awka, noted that women currently occupy key positions in the administration, including the Secretary to the State Government and Head of Service.
According to him, “The governor’s mandate to the Ministry of Women Affairs is about organising women into interest groups and mainstreaming their role in Anambra’s development. He has provided the enabling environment for the project, and if you get it right, the governor will inject more funds to broaden the programme.”
Dr Mefor endorsed the savings model initiative of the project, citing global research that women manage funds more prudently and are less prone to corruption. “Women make excellent managers, are less prone to corruption, and are more committed. I am certain loans will be safe, and government injections will also be safe,” he said.
He urged the team to focus on agriculture and export and advised them to deliberately include widows and vulnerable women to prevent politicians from hijacking the programme in various communities.
He assured that the Ministry of Information and Value Reformation would support the project through public enlightenment on ABS Radio and TV and other government platforms, even as he asked the project team to submit a formal letter outlining specific areas of collaboration.
Earlier, the State Project Coordinator, Hope Okoye, said the project was an initiative of Governor Soludo to empower women economically with technical support from the World Bank through the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs.
She explained that the implementation will start with three pilot LGAs, Aguata, Njikoka, and Ogbaru, targeting not less than 150,000 women beneficiaries, and added that the project is multi-sectoral, involving ministries of finance, information, agriculture, women affairs, and others.
The project team called on the information ministry to assist the project in information dissemination for the good of Anambra.
