RAYMOND OZOJI reports
Deputy Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly and member representing Awka-South 2 State Constituency Rt. Hon. Sir Chukwuma Pius Okoye has identified passion as the secret to every legitimate success.
Okoye who noted this while addressing women and young girls at the maiden Awka-South LGA Women Entrepreneurship Conference held at St. Peter's Anglican Church Hall Amawbia at the weekend, stressed that it is not out of place for one to start small in pursuing one's dreams and aspirations but with passion and resilience one can be the centre of attraction in no distant time judging from his humble beginnings.
Okoye who was the sole sponsor of the conference, said it was designed to bestow knowledge empowerment on women and young girls to enable them to get out of hunger, over-dependency, unemployment, poverty and abject penury as well as propel their minds in seeking financial independence more creatively and innovatively using their brains and not their bodies.
The Deputy Speaker also disclosed that the conference cum training session served as a veritable platform to identify what the women have passion and natural proclivity for, harness them and assist them with grants to enable them pursue their own enterprise and become job and wealth creators instead of being vulnerable to the society.
The conference which was organized by the Centre For Innovation And Creativity (CIC) in partnership with African Entrepreneurship Foundation also had resource persons who corroborated what the Deputy Speaker said about passion and resilience.
Lady Divine Njideka Ezeh, the founder Divine Women Skill Foundation and Chief Executive Officer of a Cooperative Society said the theme of the conference " The Role Of Women In The Battle Against Poverty, Hunger And Unemployment In Nigeria " was very apt as she believes that women should understand who they are and believe also that they can achieve something tangible on their own.
Lady Ezeh who was one of the resource persons at the conference emphasized the dire need for women to depend less on their husbands but fashion out more innovative means of supporting their husbands to keep the homefromt intact.
She however stressed the need for women to always set their priorities right, develop themselves educationally as well as maintain their pride as women because they are the cradle of the society while commending the Deputy Speaker for empowering women with knowledge and creating the enabling environment for them to stand firm and take quality decisions that will affect their lives positively.
Dr. Ijeoma Obi who is the Director Obems Pasteurized Foods Limited Nibo Awka-South Local Government Area encouraged her fellow women to be on their feet in order to take care of their basic needs. Obi who was another resource person at the conference further encouraged women to be risk-takers and always think outside the box to attain financial independence and reduce over-dependency on the male folks.
Obi who described the women empowerment conference as a masterpiece, said it was the first of its kind in Awka-South Local Government Area and that the Deputy Speaker is highly appreciated for creating such wonderful platform for women to seek more innovative means of attaining financial independence as well as freedom from vulnerability.
Meanwhile convener of the conference who is the president and proprietor of Centre For Innovation And Creativity (CIC) Amawbia, Dr. Okechukwu Ferdinand Cyril Nwuche, noted that when a women is trained and empowered, a whole generation has been empowered.
Nwuche who is also a lecturer in the department of entrepreneurship studies Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, said the conference was put together in collaboration with the Deputy Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Sir Chukwuma Pius Okoye, whom he described as a man who loves to empower people especially women as he believes that when a woman is empowered, a community has been empowered.
Nwuche stated that the Centre for Innovation and Creativity (CIC) Amawbia believes so much in entrepreneurship and that entrepreneurship is the only antidote to unemployment, unemployability, poverty and hunger. That by deploying innovation and creativity and other necessary skills, then the issue of hunger, poverty and unemployment would be a thing of the past.
The CIC president who described himself as the special adviser to the Nigerian people on entrepreneurship and job creation, said he is passionate about helping Nigerians battle hunger, poverty and unemployment.
He stated that what they have done with the Deputy Speaker simply meant that they have a robust roadmap to collaborate and partner private sector individuals, politicians, captains of industries and entrepreneurs to engage them in deploying their resources in helping to train the unemployed and unemployable youths of the Nigerian population as he believes that in no distant time, hunger and poverty will be a thing of the past in the country.
Nwuche said that the knowledge garnered from the conference will help the women fight hunger and poverty. He said entrepreneurial management skills were also required to frontally tackle hunger, poverty and unemployment which according to him were the basic tenets of the 1st Awka-South Women Entrepreneurship Conference.
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