Eno, Sanwo-olu canvass for women inclusion in governance
By Sodiq Adelakun
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, have emphasised the importance of women’s inclusion in governance to drive impactful development in communities.
Speaking at the 24th National Women’s Conference, COWLSO, on Tuesday, Eno stressed that factoring women into governance would ensure quick, positive, and visible results.
Eno, represented by his Deputy, Sen. Akon Eyakenyi, noted that women’s conferences like COWLSO had added value to the policy of women inclusion and other gender-friendly initiatives of the government.
Eno, who was represented by his Deputy, Sen. Akon Eyakenyi, further noted that this platform had added more value to the policy of women inclusion and other gender friendly initiatives of the government, assuring that “if their effort is well harnessed women can deploy their full potential to achieve greatness.”
This was just as the governor further assured that the current challenges facing the country was nothing strange and would soon become history, arguing that what “matters is the determination to forge ahead and to encourage them to take the right decisions even when they initially seem unpalatable.”
“This conference holds a great promise for Nigeria and my belief is that with gender equality, we can achieve more for our people, break more glass ceilings and work towards a more gender friendly governance,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu, the host governor, promised that his administration would continue to provide templates that would empower women and make them more relevant in all spheres of government.
Meanwhile, Chairman, Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials, COWLSO, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, in her welcome address, urged women to be selfless and push beyond boundaries to enrich the communities they belonged to by breaking barriers on gender imbalance in the society.
She said that women made invaluable contributions across various sectors, describing their influence as paramount in shaping a progressive and equitable world and, therefore, the need to accord priority to their wellbeing.
“The objective of this annual conference is to frontally address various challenges facing women, empowering and supporting them to become independent while realising their full potentials especially as women play crucial roles in modern society, serving as bedrock of homes, families, organisations and communities,” the Lagos First Lady said.