4th October, 2014
The wife of the Oyo State governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi, on Saturday in Ibadan expressed the state government’s commitment to the cause of widows.
Ajimobi gave the assurance at a programme she organised for 500 widows from local government areas during which she gave them various gift items.
She said the state government was committed to restoring the dignity of widows and stopping the stigma often associated with widowhood.
“We have thoughtfully designed this programme to coincide with the 2014 Sallah.
“We thought it necessary that, celebrating this all-important day, we should also put smiles on the faces of a group of vulnerable people in the society,” she said.
Ajimobi recalled that at the inception of the husband’s administration, she inaugurated mini-clinics for the aged and widows, and Widowhood Support Programme in the 33 local government areas of the state.
The governor’s wife, who described widows as the embodiment of the struggles and travails of womanhood, assured the women that the government would always fight for their rights.
She lamented that “many widows and their children are kicked out of their homes, forced to live in abject poverty and become prey to abuse, violence and sexual exploitation”.
She urged Nigerians to always support and empower widows, saying they must be given the opportunity to live well.