7th April, 2019
Building Bridge Foundation has appealed to government at all levels to accord priority attention to empowerment of women and children for sustained advancement of the country.
Mrs Maimuna Chionuma, President of the Foundation, which is into the welfare of orphans and widows, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of an event to commemorate Mothers Day on Saturday in Lagos.
According to Chionuma, women and children hold the key to the economic advancement of nations but expressed concern that in some parts of Nigeria, the girl-child is being prepared for marriage and not innovations.
“My advice to the government is that they should try and build the capacity of women and encourage them to become people to reckon with in the society.
“If you do not build the capacity of women, the society is down. Build women and children and the nation will have a great future,’’ she said.
Chionuma said that women were most hit in times of conflicts and crises, adding that they suffer different kinds of injustice.
She said that as a lawyer, she had handled several cases of in-laws dispossessing widows of all belongings after demise of their husbands.
Chionuma said her Foundation had fought for the welfare of widows for over five years and was collaborating with “Women for Christ Network’’, an NGO to give hope to the suppressed and oppressed women.