Women, under the umbrella of Enugu Women Prayer Network, Monday ,October 10,2023, held a special thanksgiving service to appreciate God for the victory He granted to Enugu state Governor, Dr Peter Mbah at the Enugu state Governorship Tribunal.
At the event held at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, the .officating priest and Chaplain, Government House, Rev Fr.
Anthony Udeh spoke on the importance of love and stressed the need for christians to love God and one another.
Thanksgiving
Your neighbor is” everyone around you and we should love our neighbour which is call to a discipleship and challenge of being a Christian.
If you love Christ but do not love your neighbor, even your enemies. there is a problem and it will be very difficult for you to make heaven,” he admonished them.
Speaking at the event, Coordinator, Enugu State Women Prayer Network, Evangelist Mrs Favour Ugwuany mni, said Enugu women gathered at Okpara Square where they hold their monthly prayer , 9Th day of every month to thank God for victory he gave to the state Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah.
Enih
She said women gathered to also pray
for Enugu State Government, land of Enugu, families and Nigeria at large
“Women from all the offices, parastatals, M 17 Local Government Areas, political parties and 11 ministers of God, women support groups gathered here to celebrate what God did for Mbah and Enugu State at the tribunal,” she said.
Evangelist Ugwuanyi also called on those in opposition to support Mbah, stressing that, “Enugu State belong to all of us and they should join hand together with the present government to make Enugu great
Ugwuanyi mni
eople who say Mbah is not doing any project should have patient with him because, it is too early to judge, adding that six months is not enough to lay foundations.
They are in a hurry and Mbah is going to make it, he has to set machineries on ground, study the environment, problems and challenges, harvest decisions of people with his own to come up with solutions,” Ugwuanyi appealed.
On her part, the Enugu State Commissioner for Children and Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Ngozi Enih, thanked the women for attending the thanksgiving and holding monthly prayers for the state.
She urged them to continue with their prayers to enable Mbah achieve his plan for Enugu people.
The Commissooner commended Governor Mbah for paying N450 million counterpart fund to World Bank for women in the state. She said it is a grant and not a loan, adding that the gesture is in line with Governor Mbah’s promise to end poverty in Enugu during his tenure in office.
Among all the 36 states in Nigeria, Enugu State was the first state that paid N450 million counterpart fund for women and so far only Enugu and Ondo states has paid the money.
To access the money all you need to do is to register yourselves at Poverty Eradication and Human Development and then, collect your certificate at our ministry and open an account.
The money is not meant for you to go home and spend it, we will be checkmating and monitoring you to see that the money is judiciously used for the purpose it was meant for,” he advised.
She urged women to report any domestic violence against them to the ministry stressing that they would treat their matter confidentially.
Ministers
She said the ministry believed that women empowerment was essential to their ability to ensure women economic empowerment and, by extension, the resilience of their households and communities.
One of the objectives of the programme is to provide an investment that will improve the livelihoods of women in Nigeria to boost inclusive growth by ensuring economic opportunities for women in addressing gender inequality,” she added
In her presentation on” Infant and maternal mortality”, the director of Disease Control and innmunization, Basic Enugu Primary Healthcare Development Agency,, Enugu, Dr.Chinelo Nnadi said it could be reduced by pregnant women visiting primary healthcare and using mosquito nets.
On her part, Edith Okoh, Udi local government area, who spoke on domestic violençe, noted that it cuts across all social groups. ” We are in a male dominated world and many are abusing it, ” she said
Okoh listed different forms of domestic violençe to include, sexual abuse, negligence of responsibilities, economic abuse, spiritual abuse, low self esteem, technological abuse, psychological abuse, among others.
Wife of Enugu state Governor, Mrs Mbah was represented by Sandra Uche Mbah.
Women group
Women group in attendance include the representatives of the National Council of Women Society(NCWS), Nigeria Association of Women Journalists( NAWOJ, Christian women groups, women from the 17 local government areas of the state among others.
Women group
Highlights of the event were teachings on domestic violence and infant and maternity mortality.
It could be recalled that Enugu Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, had on Sept. 21, upheld Mbah’s victory as the duly elected governor of Enugu State in March 18 governorship election in the state.
Author: Maureen Ikpeama