By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse
As part of the activities to round off the 2024 International Women’s Day (IWD) the Jigawa state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development on Saturday honoured at least 50 prominent leaders who have contributed towards the upliftment of women gender in the state.
The honourees included 44 women and six men, which cut across all spheres of human endeavours, were praised for their immense contributions towards the development and empowerment of women folk in the state.
Prominent among those honoured included the state governor, Namadi Umar; the Senator representing Jigawa Northwest in the Senate Babangida Hussaini and a former Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayat Ahmef Rufa’i.
Others included the wife of the immediate past Kano state governor and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Prof. Hafsat Umar Ganduje; a former First Lady of the state, Hajiya Zahra’u Saminu Turaki and at least five former Commissioners and some past permanent secretaries in the Ministry of Women Affairs in the state.
The governor, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Dutse Capital Development Authority, (DCDA), Musa Sule Dutse, called on women to continue to support the government programme aimed at alleviating their socio-economic condition in the state.
He admonished them against abandoning their responsibilities towards the society, describing women as the bedrock of development of any society.
The former Education Minister, pointed out that women role is so crucial that no society could afford to ignore it.
according to her, “No society worth it’s salt can afford to ignore the role in development, as they are the cornerstone. To achieve that, we must continue to pay attention to the development of out girl child be it in the area of health or education
” Efforts must be doubled in enhancing access to educational efforts as we explore approaches towards resources mobilization with the aim of providing qualify, affordable and functional education to the youths in f Jigawa state.
the ex-minister, who was accompanied to the occasion by spouse, Dr. Ahmed Rufa’i dedicated her award to him because he was who pushed to go for further studies up to the PhD level.
She dedicated her awards to her husband, who she described as her backbone in her quest for educational pursuit, saying, “When I got married at the age of 18, I was only a secondary school graduate. He pushed me to go for my degree, then second degree and then PhD, so I owe my educational attainment to my husband.”
Similarly, Ganduje’s wife, who was represented by a former Education and Budget and Planning commissioner in the state Hajiya Aisha Ja’afaru Yusuf admonished women not to abandon the education of their children, noting that the development of any society rested on the women folk.
The State First Lady, Hadiza Umar Namadi commented the efforts of the women Affairs ministry towards identifying and recognizing the women, who have in the past contributed towards the development of women in the state.
Speaking at occasion, the Commissioner women affairs and social development, Hajiya Hadiza Abdulwahab said, the theme of the 2024 IWD is Acceleration Gender Equality through Economic Empowerment was aimed at inspiing the participation on women inclusion.
The Commissioner commended governor Malam Umar Namadi for inclusion of women into various empowerment programs, adding that the awards was presented to them to acknowledge their concerns and contributions for the development of women.
Hajiya Hadiza Abdulwahab who excited with caliber of participants at the occasion, maintained that, the awards will also encourage others to give more support to younger generation to achieve their future ambition.
Others1 week ago
News2 days ago