The Lagos state women’s wing of the Arondizuogu Patriotic Union (APU) on Sunday contributed and donated money to assist widows and indigent persons in the community.
The appeal fund, raised at the APU’s “2024 Thanksgiving, Investiture of Matrons/Awards Giving Ceremony”, was to institute a pool of funds to act as a buffer to aid widows and indigent persons with capital to begin business or to support existing ones.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event held at the Abalti Barracks, Surulere, Lagos, had the theme “The Role of Women in Community Development”.
The event, attended by some influential Arondizuogu Imo sons and daughters, featured women traditional dance, awards to women leaders of the wing and a public lecture to encourage people to humanitarian works.
The Keynote Speaker, Prof. Cecilia Igwilo, urged women to remain role models in community development to spur others to sustain the development.
“As family molders, you are expected to nurture the younger generation to conform to family values and community aspirations, for development to transcend generations to come.
“Be neat, wise, generous, control your tongue, avoid gossip and be friendly to make the community conducive to attract people to come home to establish businesses that will engage youths,” she said.
Igwilo, an Arondizuogu daughter and the first Nigerian woman Professor of Pharmacy, also told the women folk not to see menopause as a disease.
According to her it is a stage in the life of woman that requires change in lifestyle and feeding habit to remain healthy.
Igwilo, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, urged the women to eat more fruits, drink more water and relax, to surmount the body changes that accompany menopausal stage.
She also urged the men folk to listen to their spouses to foster healthy communications that advance family bond and share family visions capable of bearing positive impact on community development.
Mr Innocent Ike, a Chief Guest at the event, said that the community had what it took to establish a pool of funds to assist widows and indigents in the community.
Ike, a former Managing Director of Polaris Bank, and an indigene of the community, said that it behooves the community to render aid to families whose bread winners had passed on, to ensure the dependents were catered for.
He made a donation of N10 million and pledged to steer others to support the appeal fund that would be given as seed capital to support widows and indigent in the area.
Earlier in his remark, the President General of APU, Mr Peter Obiagwu, said that the APU women had continued to be the rallying point of community development in the ancient Aro Kingdom.
Obiagwu noted with nostalgia, development milestones achieved by the women at home, and said that, the proposed fund would go a long way to care for the vulnerable in the community.
“It will give them a sense of belonging after the death of their husbands.
” I pledge that the men folk will yearly, support the women to ensure that the fund was funded through individual donations,” he said.
Mrs Ijeoma Enekwa, the President APU Women’s Wing, Lagos- conveners of the event, noted that the body had been a pillar of the overall performance of APU general.
According to her, the Lagos branch has continued to be a force to reckon with, therefore, the event will recognise and award outstanding women leaders who had made great impact in the organisation and the development of the community.
“It is my advice that everyone should give the women body a helping hand, for them to fulfill their visionary projects”, she said.
Some of the awardees included Mrs Beatrice Okpeleke, Mrs Renada Nwaosu, Mrs Beta Igwe, Mrs Christina Maduike, Mrs Francisca Nwankwo, Mrs Patricia Kalu (Posthumous), Mrs Naomi Ojike (Posthumous), and others.
