BY Jerome-Mario Utomi
As the world on Thursday June 23 celebrated the International widow’s day, the credit of the celebration, going by reports, goes to Raj Loomba, an Indian national/ member of the House of Lords in London. He is the founder of the Loomba Foundation. The Loomba Foundation was established to address the problems widows in developing nations. The Foundation has been observing the day since 2005. Loomba and his wife received much admiration among governmental and non-governmental organizations in India and abroad.
Following this persisted but private effort, the 21st December 2010; the UN General Assembly in its 65th General Assembly session adopted the resolution A/RES/65/189 that explains the designation of International Widows’ Day.
The purpose of celebrating the International Widows’ day is the acknowledgement of the United Nations (UN) that they are invisible to policymakers. Policies are focused on common citizens, labourers, jobless youth, and other suffering segments of society. However, nothing is specifically discussed about widows in policy-making meetings. Such an ignoring attitude means that issues affecting more than 258 million people remain unaddressed. Widows’ Day stresses highlighting the issues of this ignored community to make the world more sustainable.
In the same sense, as the world celebrates, evidence also abounds that like Loomba Foundation, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, the Governor of Delta State has shown that there exist a ray of socioeconomic hope for Nigerian women, particularly widows in Delta state.
Aside from that, Okowa has in the past sustainably manifested leadership traits that qualifies as people-focused, a recent telephone talk with Elder (Dr) Isioma Okonta, the Governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Social Investment Programme and Coordinator of the Delta State Widows Welfare Scheme, further demonstrates beyond reasonable doubt that Okowa is a believer in the words of the late former Secretary General of the United Nation (UN), Kofi Annan, that there is no tool for development more effective than empowerment of women, and no other policy is as likely to raise economic productivity, or to reduce infant and maternal mortality.
For a better understanding of the piece, a report recently noted that a widow is a woman who has lost her husband by death and has not remarried. Widows it added, are invisible in society. They are scattered across the globe, owing to their condition and the enormous challenges, reproach and shame the majority of them are undergoing. For widows to secure expectation by keeping their hopes alive by way of feeding, providing accommodation and qualitative education for their children, they must assume the position of their dead husband who happened to be the breadwinner.
Speaking on how the state government decided on a life changing scheme, widely known as ‘Widows Alert’ in 2018 to provide succour and wipe away their tears, remedy their despair and perplexity, and assuage their hunger, Okonta explained that the initiative of the governor is focused on taking care of the poor and vulnerable widows in Delta State and cuts across the 25 local government areas.
Okonta said: The Communities are touched by this programme. This program”me is non-political and cuts across religious lines. It takes care of stipends of the widows monthly and also there is a third scheme attached to it. The widows can benefit from free healthcare. The premium of this healthcare is born by His Excellency, the governor by way of the Delta State contributory healthcare. So, even if the widows have to undergo surgical operations, it is free of charge. And we have 5,607 widows enrolled in this scheme.
On how the state tracks those that are real widows, he explained that the names of these widows were drawn from the communities and the state makes sure the community leaders are involved to help ascertain the veracity of the widows. “To those that are saying they are widows, indeed and to those that are saying they are poor and vulnerable widows, the community leaders are there to ascertain those points.”
Okonta stressed that the state does not draw up a list without making sure the community leaders are cross checking the facts: And recently, the Governor brought in a consultant “to conduct an integrated service. They were saddled with the responsibility of coming up with an electronic database of widows across Delta State. So, today, they have rounded off their work and we have over 50,000 widows in the Delta State widow’s electronic database. So, we now have a compendium of widows that have been electronically generated. This database is used as veritable tools for government to make decision and plans concerning the widows.
On Okowa’s style of supporting the project, he captures it this way: The Governor is the reason for the success of the programme. You know, “he is an astute Chief Executive, and for every aspect of governance that is involved, there is feedback mechanism that has been set up by him. Whenever there is a programme, the governor doesn’t just keep the programme. He pays attention to every detail of the program.
“The structure we have today in the widow’s welfare scheme has been set up solely by Okowa. Apart from me being the State Coordinator, there are three supervisors, each supervisor is in charge of each senatorial district in every local government, there are two coordinators that are saddled with the responsibility of taking care of the affairs of these widows and we have very little or no complaint coming from the widows. Okowa is the reason why the programme is successful.
“When you look at before 2018, the issue of widows in Delta State was not known by anybody. Widows are part of our society that nobody cares about. Their welfare was not taken care of by anybody. Then, Okowa changed the narrative. When he came in, he has been able to make sure that the poorest of the poor among these widows have their issues brought to the front burner. Now, every year on June 23rd, we participate in International Widows Day. They have been recognized by the United Nations as a day to remember the issue of widows.
“The Governor is the first Chief executive among the 36 states in the federation to observe this day. Okowa is the only governor in the Federal Republic of Nigeria that has a programme of this nature where widows are paid monthly, where the healthcare benefits of these widows are taken care of monthly.”
In other states, you might have the Chief Executive Officer take care of widows only in seasonal times, like Christmas and Easter or during electioneering periods. But Okowa made sure that the issue of widows is brought to the front burner.
Okowa has reached out to life. He has touched the untouchable. He has dropped Delta State from a point where the roads are not ploughable to a point where there is massive construction of roads everywhere. He has touched the youths in Delta State through several programmes. He has made sure that programmes for the girl child has emanated in Delta State where the girl child is no longer dependent on her parents. Business opportunities have been provided for them.
This Okowa programme for widows has come to stay. I think the way Okowa structured this programme, anybody that takes over from him must keep the programme going. His Excellency in his wisdom appointed a Commissioner for Humanitarian Services. And of course, widows’ welfare is part of humanitarian services. So, you can see how detailed the governor is. You can see he is looking into idealing structures that will make sure the widows welfare scheme will not fade away. With the structures on ground by the governor, I think the programme is sustainable. He concluded.
•Utomi Jerome-Mario is the Programme Cordinator (Media and Public Policy), The Social Ane Economic Justice Advocacy(SEJA). He could be reached via; jeromeutomi@yahoo.com or 08032725374.
