3rd FOWOSO Summit: Working Committee tours Media houses for coverage

Ahead of the 3rd Summit of the Foundation for Wives of Ondo State Officials and Female Political Appointees,( FOWOSO), Working Committee members for the event, today, toured media organisations in the state to solicit their support for coverage of the activities lined up for the summit.

Led by the Wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Oluwaseun Aiyedatiwa, the Working Committee members visited Radio Nigeria Positive FM, the Nigeria Television Authority, and the state Radiovision Corporation, OSRC.

Addressing the management teams of these media houses, Mrs. Aiyedatiwa emphasised the need for collaboration between FOWOSO and the media in propagating the numerous developmental programmes of the First Lady, Chief Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, noting that joining forces to elevate womanhood would help women to be at the forefront in decision making.

According to her, Mrs Akeredolu had done a lot in the area of women empowerment and health awareness, citing the BeMore Empowered initiative through which about 2,000 girls have been trained in ICT, Solar technology and entrepreneurial skills in order to bridge gender gap in these fields of life.

She added that, her efforts at ensuring that women aren’t relegated and subjugated cannot be over-emphasised and should be well-publicised.

Commenting on the theme of the Summit, “Turning Around the Economic Status of Women in a COVID-19 Era”, Mrs. Ayedatiwa noted that there’s a need to empower women to recover from the COVID-19 l protocols, which really affected their businesses, caused loss of jobs and spouses; coupled with lack of incentives as witnessed in the developed country.

Earlier in her opening remarks, the Summit Committee’s Chairperson, Mrs. Morenike Alaka asserted that women economic empowerment which FOWOSO stands for, had been recognised as a human right issue and a prerequisite for national development.

She hinted that about 1,000 participants would attend the day one event where women would be equipped with skills, through lectures by intelligent resource persons, to turn their economic situations around for good.

She added that the second day would feature empowerment of thousands of women across the 18 local government areas of the state with economic equipment and materials.

In their separate responses, the Head of the aforementioned media organisations assured of their readiness to give maximum support in terms of coverage of the 3rd Summit.

On his part, the Chairman of the Ondo State Radiovision Corporation, Mr. Kunle Adebayo testified to the impacts FOWOSO had made in empowering women, girls and youths since it started activities in 2018.

According to him, FOWOSO has a different objective from the jamboree initiatives of past First Ladies, noting that the Foundation is giving confidence to women. He commended Mrs Akeredolu for having clear vision and wherewithal on how to impact the society.

The General Manager of NTA, Mr. Segun Ojelade who described the Ondo First Lady as a passionate woman, opined that in years to come, the people of the state would begin to see the impacts of her initiatives; while the General Manager of Radio Nigeria Positive FM, Asiwaju Samson Abiodun avowed that the station would continue to partner activities of the First Lady for the betterment of women in general.

Mary Agidi
Special Assistant to the Governor on Media
Office of the First Lady
Nov., 29th, 2021.