Anayo Ezugwu 
The House of Representatives member representing Oshdi/Isolo Constituency, Okey-Joe Onuakalusi, has empowered 100 women drawn from across the six wards of the constituency.
The two-day programme facilitated by the lawmaker ended yesterday with support from the National Institute for Hospitality And Tourism (NIHOTOUR).
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the programme, Special Assistant to the lawmaker on Political and Socio-cultural Mathers, Chief John Uche, who represented Onuakalusi said the aim of the training was to achieve good governance.
He said: “This is done to empower the women and make sure that they have something to fend for their families, pay school fees, pay house rents and possibly build houses of their own, If anyone can achieve that, then he or she would have solved some of the major problems people face in society.
“The aim of this event is to achieve good governance, by way of delivering the dividend of democracy. We want to ensure that the constituents are comfortable. We want them to be able to produce what they can eat.
“They have the opportunity to acquire knowledge by this training and then they can showcase that when they go into production of the various products that they have been exposed to.
“We want them to be fishing, not expecting somebody to give them fish today and tomorrow. When they start, we can also guide them on where to get loans to expand their businesses.”
In his remarks, the manager of the programme, Walter Ukaga, said the programme is geared towards empowering women.
He said: “As you can see the women are excited because it’s a programme that will impact on the lives of the women and make them valuable members of society.
“We expect the beneficiaries to put the knowledge into use, take the good news to others so they can also benefit from what is happening in the constituency.”
Ukaga charged the beneficiaries to go to their social media handles and tell people about the good news concerning what the lawmaker is doing.
“This group of beneficiaries are new. They’ve not gotten before but today they’ve been selected and empowered. We’ve done many empowerment programmes previously in the areas of education, health, etcetera.
“We selected the beneficiaries across the six wards in the constituency. We considered people who really need empowerment. It’s not about the Labour Party. It’s non-partisan and so beneficiaries cut across party lines. As long as you’re resident in the constituency, you’re qualified. We’ve trained 100 women so far.”
While speaking, the Labour Party woman leader for Oshodi/Isolo Local Government, Commie Uyana, eulogised the lawmaker for facilitating the programme.
Uyana said: “You can see what is happening in the country today, there’s hardship but with this training, the sky is the limit. Women will become their own bosses and before you know it they’ll become employers of labour.
“It’s an initiative that is so touching to me because women should be empowered and with this programme, the honourable member has proved himself to be a man of the people and a visionary leader.
“Having partnered with NIHOTOUR, it’s a good thing and this is the beginning of better things to come. Yesterday we trained them on the preparation of liquid soap, and bleach and today it’s Vaseline. I must say that I’m so overwhelmed with what happened here.”
One of the beneficiaries who spoke with journalists, Sileret Idika, appreciated the lawmaker for impacting the constituents.
“With the knowledge acquired, we can add to our businesses and increase our sources of income. This is not the first empowerment he has facilitated.
“As you can see what is happening here today is part of his campaign promises. The other time it was a medical outreach and so many people benefited. You know that health is of the essence.
“We learnt a lot of things in these two days. I didn’t know how to make soap, bleach and vaseline, but with this free entrepreneurship and skill acquisition training I have been empowered.
“I’ll add this business to what I’m doing already. This training has added value to me and a lot of other women.”
