Dame Patience Jonathan
By Senator Iroegbu and Adedayo Akinwale
The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan has said that women and youth empowerment remain one of the best ways to achieving Millennium Development (MDGs) in Nigeria.
Dame Jonathan stated this Saturday at the two years anniversary of the pet project of the wife of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mrs. Aisha Balla Mohammed under the Al-Muhibbah Foundation.
She said: “Empowering women and youth is very important for Nigeria to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”.
"Empowering the youth is sacred as joblessness can lead to any type of social vices which may be a threat to the security of the country".
The First Lady lauded Aisha Mohammed for following her foot step as her organisation had trained and also empowered over four thousand women, including taking care of children with heart condition and also paying for their treatment outside the country.
She stressed that the era of travelling out for heart treatment will soon be over as efforts are being made by the government to establish the hospital and make it one of the best in the world.
As part of the activities marking the two years of the her foundation, the FCT Minister's wife distributed empowerment materials to over 300 beneficiaries drawn from the six area councils of the FCT.
She said that the foundation was mandated to rehabilitate, beautify and modernise existing Christians and Muslims cemetery but was encouraged by the empowerment initiative of the First lady, Patience Jonathan through her organisation.
She said: "The gesture is meant to equip the beneficiaries who have acquired private skills through her foundation but lack the adequate capital to commence operation".
“Al-Muhibbah Foundations initial mandate was to rehabilitate and modernise existing Christians and Muslims cemeteries, but when we saw the transformation train of our mother in empowerment of vulnerable and less privilege in the society through her A.aruera reach-out Foundation; we immediately keyed into that vision by expanding Al-Muhibbah’s scope to also accommodate humanitarian and welfare services to the needy and the vulnerable in the society”.
Among other empowerment equipment distributed to the beneficiaries include: 52 refrigerators, 39 grinding machines, 15 hand driers, 63 tailoring machines, 7 computers, and take off grants for 83 beneficiaries.