Wife of the Abia State Governor, Mrs. Priscilla Otti, has announced plans to build an additional 289 bungalows for indigent widows across the state’s 17 local government areas, as part of efforts to improve their welfare and restore their dignity.

Mrs. Otti made the announcement on Tuesday in Umuahia during the state’s commemoration of the 2026 International Widows Day (IWD) themed “Justice, Dignity and Economic Power for Widows.”

She said the theme challenges governments, institutions, communities and individuals to “replace indifference with compassion, silence with advocacy and promises with purposeful action.”

According to her, the commemoration reaffirms “a timeless truth that every life possesses equal worth, every human being deserves dignity, and no woman should be diminished because she has lost her husband.”

Describing widowhood as one of life’s deepest sorrows, Mrs. Otti stressed that no woman should be left to battle grief while struggling to protect her home, preserve her dignity or secure her children’s future.

“We must therefore insist that justice for widows is not charity, but a moral obligation; dignity is not a privilege but a fundamental right; while economic empowerment of widows is not a favour but a pathway to their independence,” she said.

Reaffirming her commitment to widows in the state, she declared: “As long as I have the privilege of serving as wife of the governor, I will continue to lend my voice to your cause, pursue policies and programmes that restore hope, protect dignity and expand opportunities for widows across our state.”

She urged stakeholders to build “an Abia State where justice is more than an aspiration, dignity more than a promise, and economic empowerment becomes the bridge that transforms grief into hope and vulnerability into strength.”

Mrs. Otti also prayed that every widow would find “comfort where there has been sorrow, opportunity where there has been hardship, justice where there has been injustice, and hope where there has been despair.”

She disclosed that 35 bungalows have already been completed for indigent widows across the 17 local government areas and announced plans to construct 17 additional bungalows in each of the 17 LGAs bringing the proposed new projects to 289 housing units

A major highlight of the event was the presentation of N50,000 business grants to 600 widows to support their livelihoods and boost economic independence.

In her address, the Commissioner for Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Ngozi Blessing Felix, said every widow deserves to live with dignity and have the opportunity to earn a living and provide for her family.

She maintained that these are “not privileges to be granted at will, but fundamental rights that every compassionate and progressive society must uphold.”