Women In Africa Initiative Officially Launched in Nigeria

HE, Mr. Jérôme Pasquier, the French Ambassador to Nigeria, hosted dignitaries, diplomats and women leaders on January 14th at a private reception at the French Embassy, Abuja, to officially launch the Women In Africa (WIA) Initiative in Nigeria.

Event venue

Networking session

Marvella Odili (L) with French Ambassador, HE, Mr. Jérôme Pasquier

Marvella Odili (L) with Aude de THUIN, Founder and Chair of Board, WIA Initiative

Marvella Odili (L) with Aude de THUIN

Marvella Odili (L) with Hafsat Abiola, President/CEO, WIA Initiative

 Among the dignitaries present were HE, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo (wife of the Vice-president of Nigeria) and Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa (Chairman, CEO, of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission).

L-R: Hafsat Abiola, Aude de THUIN and French Ambassador

Cross-section of guests

 

L-R: Rev Ifueko, French Ambassador, Adedayo Benjamins, Rukayat, Marvella Odili

Hafsat Abiola, President/CEO of WIA Initiative, gave a wonderful speech on the power of African women to positively transform their societies and move Africa forward.

Hafsat Abiola, President/CEO, WIA Initiative, making a speech

L-R: HE, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo in a tete-a-tete with Hafsat Abiola

Marvella Odili, Founder/CEO of Save Our Needy Organisation, was specially invited by the France Ambassador to the event.

Marvella Odili, Founder/CEO, Save Our Needy

Marvella Odili

L-R: Azhee Akinrin, Marvella Odili, Rukayat

Founded by Aude de THUIN, WIA Initiative is the first international platform dedicated to the economic development and support of leading and high potential African women.

ONE launches Vote Your Future Campaign

Nigeria has enjoyed democracy for nearly two decades. However, this democracy has been marked by low turn out of youths during elections, corruption, unfulfilled promises, buying of votes and stuffing of ballot boxes.

Bisola Aiyeola arriving at the event

On Saturday, October 20th, ONE Campaign launched the Vote Your Future Campaign to give youths the chance to ask presidential candidates of the various political parties what their plans and agenda are for the nation, and particularly for youths.

A participant at the event

The well-packed event saw youths from all over Nigeria converge at Abuja to witness and participate in the historic event.

The #VoteYourFuture campaign is all about reinforcing the fact that citizens' action of voting (or not voting) affects their future. It affects the future of families, children and can have an impact on advancement in life. Voting matters. Not only that, how you vote matters. How you select candidates is of critical importance.

#VoteYourFuture

Event venue

It is important that candidates know the issues that affect Nigeria, and most importantly how to solve them. Candidates might not have all the answers, but they must know how to get the answers and they must demonstrate that knowledge when ordinary citizens, ask them questions. 

Celebrities and influencers including Bisola Aiyeola, Bankole Wellington aka Banky W and Folarin Galena aka Falz The Bad Guy were some of the speakers at the event.

L-R: Banky W and Bisola Aiyeola

Falz The Bad Guy (Folarin Falana)

The event was hosted by renowned host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.

L-R: Serrah Makkah ( ONE Director, Nigeria) and Ebuka Obi-Uchendu

ONE Ambassadors Present Over 187,000 Signed Petitions to Nigerian Senate President

Congratulations to all of us who put in tremendous effort to push the #MakeNaijaStronger campaign with the aim of getting the Nigerian government to increase budget allocation to healthcare and reform the health sector. 187,240 signatures were presented to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, yesterday at Abuja by ONE Ambassadors, Waje, Desmond Elliot and Alli Nuhu.

ONE Ambassadors and ONE Africa Executive Director presenting the petitions to Nigerian Senate President

 This is a big step towards getting better health care for the hardest to reach people particularly women and girls.

This is no small feat as the Nigerian health sector has been in a deplorable state for several years now.
We have to continue working to make sure the government keeps their promises. The promises made mean that we are closer to getting other key parts of the Health Act like basic medical insurance.
Together, we can #MakeNaijaStronger

ONE Ambassador, Waje and Nachilala Nkombo, ONE Africa Executive Director (Interim)

 Kicked off early in 2016, the Make Naija Stronger Campaign has shed light on the deplorable state of healthcare in Nigeria while calling on the Federal Government to help save millions of lives and create a more healthy, prosperous and secure nation. The Townhall meeting was organised by ONE Campaign in partnership with Connected Development and The Wellbeing Foundation. 

Released Chibok Girls Finally Reunite With Their Families Amidst Tears Of Joy

It was an outpour of emotions as the 21 recently released #Chibok girls reunited with their families. A church service was held in their honor on October 16th, at Abuja.

The girls were released after a series of negotiations between the Boko Haram militants and the Nigerian government. A child of about 20 months born to one of the girls was also released.

A mother overwhelmed with joy straps her teenage daughter to her back

Two years ago, more than 200 young girls were abducted from their boarding school in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria by Boko Haram militants.

Vice-President Osibanjo (Right) consoles one of the released girls

The release of the 21 girls aged between 16-18 years still seems so untrue. We pray and hope for the safe return of the other girls. Every girl-child deserves to be educated and free from violence. #BringBackOurGirls

Chargé d' Affaires, US Embassy Nigeria, David Young Implores Nigerians To Empower The Girl-Child

David J. Young, Chargé d' Affaires, US Embassy, Nigeria gave a very insightful speech as he hosted dignitaries at Abuja to mark the International Day Of The Girl.

Please read below excerpts from the speech:

David J. Young

We need to help girls across this country, from all walks of life, not only in crisis.  They need the opportunity to grow up safe and healthy, free from violence and abuse.  They need the chance to be educated, to make decisions for themselves about their destinies, what they want to do in life, who they want to love, how they will live, and what they will believe.

When we think of the future of Nigeria, this is especially important.  Think for a moment.  Nigeria’s population is growing rapidly.  Currently, there are roughly 180 million people in the country.  By 2050 the number of people is expected to grow to roughly double, to some 350 million people.  Half of these are female.  What are we doing to make a better future for the girls who we want to grow up to be the women of Nigeria tomorrow?

Michelle Obama, at the 2014 Mandela Washington Fellowship’s Presidential summit said, “if you send out half your team, you will not do as well.”  Women make up roughly half of the population of Nigeria, and in a time of economic turmoil, Nigeria cannot afford to have half the team sitting on the bench.  With that in mind the Embassy sponsors more than one hundred women and girls annually to travel to the United States to hone their skills in business, advocacy, education, and many other fields through our various educational and cultural exchange programs.

Here at the U.S. Embassy, we support the campaign to end violence against women and girls. We work with Nigerians to assure the rights of every Nigerian woman and girl to live free - Free from physical and emotional abuse at school, at home, and in the workplace. We work to see she is respected and protected.

USAID has educational programs in the northern part of  Nigeria focused on ensuring girls not only enter and stay in school but receive a quality education.  In addition, USAID has developed safe spaces for women and girls affected by the ongoing conflict in the Northeast. USAID health programs encourage girls to delay pregnancy until an appropriate age and focus on family planning and disease prevention to improve health outcomes for girls and young women throughout Nigeria.

Support Project SAVE

We hope to commence a three-month (3 month) program entitled S.A.V.E (Skills Acquisition, Vocational training & Empowerment) to provide free training on vocational and life skills to one hundred and twenty (120) disadvantaged young people and women.

Through Project SAVE, we wish to train and empower single mothers, widows, unemployed graduates, school dropouts and at-risk youths on valuable and income-earning skills including cake baking and decoration, make up artistry, bead making, tailoring, catering, arts and crafts, hairdressing/barbing, event venue decoration and ICT.

Participants will be provided with the necessary tools at the end of the program, in line with the training they received, to help them start their own small businesses.

Unemployment particularly among youths is fast becoming a time bomb in Nigeria. Also many widows in Africa face not only emotional distress but most times, financial insecurity when they lose their husbands. These women are abandoned to their own fate and left to cater for their children although they cannot boast of a source of income. The militant group, Boko Haram, has rendered many women particularly in Northern Nigeria, widows. It is time to save these women from a life of despair.

Project SAVE is a campaign which is inspired to help lift every disadvantaged woman out of poverty so that they can take hold of equal opportunities, break from cultural and social constraints that may be holding them back, and become drivers of poverty reduction.

Please join us as we restore hope to the hopeless and give underserved women and youths, the opportunity to secure a brighter and less burdensome future.

The Program will insist on deliberately  targeting 75% women within its beneficiaries because we strongly believe in the saying, ''Empower A Woman, Empower A Nation.''

The start date for the program is October 2nd 2015. It will take place in Lagos State and Abuja.

We hope to touch more than 1,000 lives either directly or indirectly at the end of the program.

We humbly ask for your support in cash donations or in kind to make this program not only a reality but a huge success.

Kindly send your cash donations to:
Save Our Needy Organisation
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank)
0168556004

Donations in kind should please be in form of materials needed for the implementation of the project.
Drop off location is:
Ikeja Plaza, near Ikeja bridge, Ikeja General Hospital

Your contribution(s) will be duly acknowledged on all our social media pages unless you wish to remain anonymous.

If you wish to partner with us on this project or any of our projects, please send an email to: saveourneedy@gmail.com OR call +2349025600734, +2348151546111. We look forward to hearing from you.

Please visit our website to see a more comprehensive list of our work and the lives we have touched so far: www.saveourneedy.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SaveOurNeedy
Twitter: @SaveOurNeedy

THANK YOU and God BLESS you abundantly.