Mary Nnah
The Chief of Staff to the Executive Governor of Osun State, Dr. Charles Diji Akinola, has identified education of females as the most potent empowerment tool to national development.
He said this as Nigerian women joined the rest of the world to celebrate the International Women’s Day at Nike Art Gallery, where 120 women were empowered in the traditional Aso-Ofin skills to propagate culture and equally create a livelihood.
He enjoined the Nigerian society to create better educational opportunities for women as this will aid progress in the country.
“Education is a very useful tool. It becomes easier for women and policy makers once they have the right education. Women who are not educated enough may not have the critical thinking skills nor the knowledge of the world around them and how things work to actually discern but with the right education they can address such”, he noted.
He said therefore that Nigerian women and government at all levels should brace up in accelerating gender equality in Nigeria by creating programmes and avenue to propagate women, adding that empowering women translates directly into national development.
”When you empower women, you have empowered the nation. As a matter of fact, there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.
“It is also a fact that government cannot do this alone. Hence I profoundly commend my sister Nike for making her replicate on a subject she is versatile on”, he said while encouraging more women to be involved in empowerment schemes to enable other women live fulfilled lives.
He described Nike as a woman who is committed to empowering women and girls, as well as all other residents across the globe.
The Artist and Designer, Nike Davies Okundaye said the workshop was held on traditional Nigerian textiles to celebrate IWD as 120 women were empowered under the auspices of the Nike Gallery. The 120 women across Nigeria were trained by women from Kogi to use chicken feathers on the traditional fabric.
