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Group Strategises To End Practices Inflicting Pains On Women, Girls In Benin

Published

2 years ago

July 13, 2023

In an effort to end some social norms harmful to women and the girl child in the society, group known as WomenAid Collective (WACOL) in collaboration with Fifty-fifty (50/50) Action Women on Wednesday held a Town Hall Meeting in Benin to enlighten stakeholders on dangers in such practices.

The Tall Hall Meeting themed ‘Ending Social Norms and Practices that Promote Violence Against Women and Girls’ had in attendance stakeholders from the judiciary, communities heads, members of FIDA, women groups, civil society groups, the media among others.

In her presentation, one of the resource persons and a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Benin, Adisa Okunrobo, stressed the need to do away with all sorts of practices that are harmful and hinder the growth and development of women and the girl child in the society.

According to her, the Tall Hall Meeting was to strategize and enlighten stakeholders on negative norms that promote violence against women and the girl child in the society.

Emphasizing, she said as a group, they are in support of positive norms and culture in the society, Okunrobo said “what we are against are the negative norms inflicting violence on our women and girls. And we are looking at negative norms such as female genital mutilation; we are looking at harmful window practices; force marriage on young children, etc.”

Lamenting that many women are dying in silence due to the nature of the society they find themselves, the Resource Person called for an end to all norm inflicting violence on women and children.

She said: “I believe that what does not profit a particular gender but rather inflict violence in such gender should be done away with.

“Because of the nature of our society, women keeps quiet even when they are passing through a situation that is not palatable. So, there is culture of silence. And this is why we are holding this meeting so that people can speak out. There are so many avenues through which one can speak out, or report cases of violence to appropriate quarters. Women need to speak out, so we are here to enlighten them.”

On her part, Egodi Blessing Igwe,
Programme Manager, WACOL, disclosed that her organisation is presently engaging traditional institutions, judiciary, youths and women groups in the South-South and South-East in order to ensure these negative norms are addressed in the society.

According to her, “WACOL is partnering with Ford Foundation to implement a project in the South-East and South-South in order to transform social norms and practices that promote violence against women and girls.

“So, we are working and engaging traditional institutions, judiciary, woman group, youth group, and other groups that are relevant to ensure discussion around those harmful practices that exist in our society, hinder the growth and development of our women work together.These are the reasons for the programme,” she added.

Lending her voice, Adesuwa Ehimuan, Edo South Coordinator, WACOL, urged women dying in silence as a result of these harmful practices to speak out.

News

Bumper Harvest: Foundation Distributes 6,000 Fertilizers To Farmers In Bauchi

Published

8 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

A group, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation has donated 6,000 50kg bags of fertilizer to farmers in Bauchi state in order to have a bumper harvest.

Speaking during the flag off ceremony of the distribution of the fertilizers on Thursday, Mr Abubakar Mohammed, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation, said the distribution was only for the indigent farmers in the state.

He said the fertilizers would be distributed to farmers in underserved communities across the three Senatorial Districts of the state.

“We are gathered here to flag off the free distribution of fertilizers to farmers, especially the indigent farmers that don’t have the means to buy fertilizer for their farms.

“That is the reason why the founder of this foundation bought the fertilizers and distributed them to the low income farmers in the state.

“We have gone round the nooks and crannies of the state to identify the underserved communities and those that deserve this particular gesture.

“We planned to distribute about 6,000 bags of fertilizer and due to the populous nature of the Bauchi LGA, they have the largest share but some other local governments too have hundreds of beneficiaries which we divided into Senatorial zones,” he said.

According to him, today was the flagging off of the Bauchi South Senatorial District, adding that the extension of the gesture would commence in Bauchi North and Bauchi Central Senatorial Districts tomorrow.

Mohammed explained that the only criteria used in selecting the beneficiaries were underserved communities and low income farmers, adding that “we know that a large number of the farmers in Bauchi state are low income farmers.

“Those are the people that we identified, verified and they are our beneficiaries and we have warned the general public about the activities of some unscrupulous elements that go round to impersonate our foundation.

“Wunti Al-Khair Foundation is not charging a kobo for every part of its activities, be it education, healthcare, economic empowerment and community development”.

Responding, one of the beneficiaries, Emmanuel Samson, described the support as a timely intervention that would greatly enhance his farming activities and appreciated the foundation for the intervention.

Another beneficiary, Salisu Maidawa, who was short of words for the gesture, said the gesture came at a time when he was in dire need of it.

News

IYC Urges Tinubu To Sack NCDMB Boss

Published

8 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Western Zone, has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for allegedly not “keeping up to the fundamental mandate,” upon which the agency was established.

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Comrade Nicholas Igarama, Comrade Ebi Joshua Olowolayemo, and Comrade Tare Magbei, Western Zone
Chairman, Secretary, and Information Officer respectively, and made available to newsmen in Warri on Thursday, August 14, 2015.

According to the IYC, the call for Ogbe’s sack becomes necessary following his incompetence and ethnic bias, adding that Ogbe has turned the agency meant for the whole Niger Delta to his Itsekiri ethnic group alone.

The IYC, while noting that efforts to meet the NCDMB Executive Secretary to discuss critical issues as they affect the region and its people have proved abortive, said it can no longer fold it arms and watch while things go from bad to worse.

“As Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Ogbe has consistently failed to input his supposed industry track record in the advancement of the mandate upon which the agency was founded.

“He has continually had a sectional engagement with his fellow Itsekiri Kits and Kin, thereby shutting all other ethnic nationalites in the Niger Delta region out.

“Repeatedly, he avoided critical youth engagement in the region while sponsoring that of his Itsekiri ethnicity through different human capacity development initiatives, while other ethnic nationalites are left unattended.

“As Ijaw, mostly from the western flank where Engr. Ogbe also hails from, we will not sit and watch others benefit from the resources that we produce without our practical involvement to better the lives of our people as well.

“It is on record that the leadership of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Western Zone has tried to establish communication with Engr. Ogbe, for the last ten months, but every medium of communication to get his attention has fundamentally proven to be abortive.

“As youths, we can no longer have leaders in office who have now equated themselves to demi-god and have refused to attend to most significantly youthful issues in the Niger Delta Region.

“To this end, we therefore call on President Bola Ahmed Tinibu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, who has consistently displayed disregard for critical actors in the Niger Delta and has also exhibited the highest level of gross inefficiency by not keeping up to the fundamental mandate upon which NCDMB was founded,” the statement reads.

The IYC also called for the probe Ogbe as Executive Secretary after his sack.

Efforts to reach Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, NCDMB, for reaction proved abortive.

News

I’m Being Impersonated – Goodluck Jonathan Disowns Social Media Account

Published

11 hours ago

August 14, 2025

Editor

Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday said he is being impersonated by fraudsters.

Jonathan alleged that a fraudulent Instagram handle has been impersonating him.

In a statement by his Media Aide,
Ikechukwu Eze, the former President insisted that he does not operate any Instagram handle.

The statement is titled ‘Beware of fake Instagram account impersonating H.E. Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’.

“Our attention has been drawn to a fraudulent Instagram account operating under the handle goodluck_ebelejonathan, which is falsely impersonating former President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

“This impostor account has been deceitfully posting content, some copied from Dr. Jonathan’s Facebook page, while pretending to represent the former President.

“We wish to emphasise that Dr. Jonathan does not operate any Instagram account.

“The media and members of the public are strongly advised to disregard, avoid sharing, or promoting any content originating from this fake profile,” the statement read.