They spoke at the African Widows’ Summit
in commemoration of second International Widows Day, pioneered by the Felix
King Foundation at the Best Western Hotel, Benin City, Edo State Nigeria.
Among activists that attended the event
include Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, Founder, Women Arise Initiative, Dr Mohammed Aliu
Momoh, an International Finance and Business Leader and Haija Aisha Yusuf, Co-convener,
Bring Back Our Girls campaign.
Presenting a paper titled, Confronting
Inequity to Promote Change, Joe Okei-Odumakin called on every Nigerian to see
the challenge that widows and other vulnerable women face in the society as one
that should be confronted by every individual to enable the positive synthesis
that will build communities for the better.
She blamed the continued scourge of
maltreatment of widows on the insensitivity of those not directly involved and
the silence of those who found themselves as victims and said it is a debt
society owes itself as a mutually functional growing unit to protect the
vulnerable ones among them.
“Society must come together to fight
this scourge. There are those who keep silence apparently in the feeling that
it does not directly affect them. But I must state that the people who keep
quite in the face of such a situation are either cowards or traitors,” she
stated.
Citing a number of cases of deprivation
in which her organization has intervened
in the past, Dr Okei-Odumakin advised women to be brave and speak out when
their rights are trampled upon, especially, as is prevalent, upon the departure
of their husbands, assuring their voices would be heard by those ready and
willing to offer help and support.
Also speaking on the paper themed; “Girl
Child Education: Panacea for Potential Growth,” Aisha Yusuf blamed the scourge
of maltreatment of widows and the vulnerable in our society on ignorance,
saying that spreading education to the poor and the vulnerable will go a long
way in preparing them for the task of effectively fighting for their rights if
and when the situation arises.
She lamented the situation where
Nigerian women are denied rights of inheritance and in other cases even basic
education and advised men to invest in the education of their girl children
while also ensuring that they hold their wives in confidence and empower them
to make certain critical decisions that will play critical roles in the furure
survival of their families when they depart this world.
Earlier in his address, Founder of the
Felix King Foundation, Mr Felix KingEiremiokhae, lamented the plight of widows
in society and said his Foundation was established, not to solve all the myriad
problems, but to blaze the trail and hopefully inspire others to embrace the
movement that will alter the cultural practices that lead to the disempowerment
and maltreatment of widows.
He said his Foundation has over the past
two years, not only organized the first ever widows summit in Nigeria, but gone
ahead to make interventions aimed at ameliorating the sufferings of widows in
the society.
“I am of the strong belief that when we deny the poor and the vulnerable their own human dignity and capacity for freedom and choice, it becomes self-denial. It becomes a denial of both our collective and individual dignity, at all levels of society. This is so because the Divine order of social evolution presupposes that we protect one another, speak for one another and advance the cause of one another and when we, for one reason or the other, deny the weak and vulnerable among us what is their due, we are disrupting that Divine order,” he said
Felix King, who had earlier presented a
Private Members’ Bill to the Edo State House of Assembly in his quest to give
legislative teeth to the abolishment of ill-treatments against widows called on
all peoples of all nationalities and callings to embrace his call by not only
supporting widows but take it upon themselves as duty to fight for them
whenever they encounter where they are being maltreated.
Also lending her voice to the campaign,
wife of the Governor of Edo State, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, commended the Felix King
Foundation for his timely initiative and promised the support of of her pet
project, the Edo Women for Agriculture (EWA) towards empowering widows by
encouraging them to adopt those of them who wish to embrace agriculture.
She expressed the hope that with the
initiative embarked upon by the Foundation, Edo State and other States in
Nigeria will soon make very conscious and deliberate efforts that will change
the circumstances of widows.
Among other dignitaries that attended
the event are the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Justin
Okonoboh, Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon (Mrs.) Elizabeth Ativie, members of
the academia and political leaders of Edo State.
Meanwhile, the Foundation had earlier
presented a 32 page private bill to the Edo State House of Assembly in Benin
City, seeking to make the obnoxious practice and custom in the state unlawful.
At the presentation, the Speaker, Okonoboh
promised to work along with his colleagues to ensure quicker passage of the
bill in law. “I am aware there are other bills like this one but we are going
to harmonized them and come out with a suitable law that will checkmate this
kind of practice on our communities,” Okonoboh said.
The foundation on the same day paid a
courtesy call to the wife of the governor, Mrs. Obaseki, who also pledged her
support towards eradication of widows maltreatment in Edo State.
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