Mrs. Amosun was on the 1st of May, 2013 was honoured in Johannesburg, South Africa for her various initiatives aimed at uplifting and empowering women, youths and children in Ogun State. Mrs. Amosun was conferred with the 2013 Distinguished Women Advancement Forum-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Leadership Award for her projects anchored on the actualization of MDGs in Ogun State. The award was given to the Wife of the Former Governor at the just concluded Women Advancement Forum held at Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa and was handed over to Mrs. Amosun by the President, United Nations Women (National Committee) in Canada, Ms. AlmasJiwani. Organizers of the event described Mrs. Amosun as a compassionate mother who is always available to uplift and empower the needy and vulnerable people in the society. In a statement by the Partner/Consultant, ABN Global Events, Mr. Charles Chikezie, “the empathy of Mrs. Olufunso Amosun to support and care for the needy and vulnerable in Ogun State has come to our notice. You have distinguished yourself among millions of women in Nigeria with genuine concern to uplift and empower people irrespective of their backgrounds.” Receiving the award, Mrs. Amosun described the honor conferred on her as recognition of good work she’s doing in Ogun State and this would spur her on to do more. Mrs. Amosun through her Uplift Development Foundation has initiated programmes like UPLIFTing the Aged, UPLIFTing SS3 Students, UPLIFTing Women, UPLIFTing Widows, UPLIFTing the Unemployed Graduates, UPLIFTing Physically Challenged, Free Eye Camp, UPLIFTing U-15 Grassroot Football, Uplift Food Outreach, Empowering Female Traders, Empowering Youths through Beautification, UPLIFTing the Environment amongst others.
Author: miji
City People Magazine Honors ‘Mrs Amosun
Wife of the Former Governor o Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun was honored with 2013 City People Award for Excellence as the Best First Lady of the Year on the 31st of March, 2013. The event, which was held at Balmoral Event Centre in Lagos, was witnessed by creme-la-creme in the society. The organizers described various initiatives of Mrs. Amosun and her contribution to the development of humanity as second to none. Receiving the award, Mrs. Amosun described the honor conferred on her as a recognition of her contribution towards humanity, saying the award would further encourage her to do more. Mrs. Amosun through her Uplift Development Foundation has initiated programmes like UPLIFTing the Aged, UPLIFTing SS3 Students, UPLIFTing Women, UPLIFTing Widows, UPLIFTing the Unemployed Graduates, UPLIFTing Physically Challenged, Free Eye Camp, UPLIFTing Under-15 Grassroot Football, Uplift Food Outreach, Empowering Female Traders, Empowering Youths through Beautification, UPLIFTing the Environment, Cancer and Cervical Awareness & Screening Exercise and among others. Other awards given to the wife of the governor included Nigerian Nursing Excellence Award held at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos on the 18th of July, 2012; 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award in commemoration of University of Lagos at 50 on the 27th of July, 2012; Young Achievers Award held at Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos on the 17th of October, 2012; and 2013 City People Award of Excellence held at Balmoral Event Centre, Oregun Road in Lagos on the 31st of March, 2013.
Women Advancement Forum,Johannesburg 2013
Complete Integration and Emancipation of Women: Road Map to the Actualization of Millennium Development Goals” was the theme of the conference at the 2013 Women Advancement Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 2nd of May, 2013. Women from all walks of life from all the African continents across the globe were in attendance and deliberations were very meaningful and worthwhile. Mrs. Amosun who attended the conference explained that women emancipation would remain a mere slogan or at the peripheral of matters unless women are properly integrated into the society and given leadership role. We must adopt practical approaches by taking concrete steps to give adequate recognition to women and give them greater roles to perform in our quest to develop our society. This forum has given us the opportunity to ventilate our deeper thoughts and ideas with the hope of aggregating them for action plans and implementation,” she said. The Wife of the Former Governor stated that gone are those days that women were happy to watch men put on their suits and head to the office, while they wear their house-coats, stay home and keep house. “Our women no longer desire to take the back seat or remain irrelevant or invisible like yesteryears,” she noted. As a Guidance Counsellor by profession I would like to mention that while we wait to attain those leadership roles, we shouldn’t fold our hands and bow our heads in despair. I am a stickler for vocational training and believe that the best way to empower a woman or girl, besides education or in addition to education is to teach them a skill. If you have a skill you can survive if you are not lazy,” she said, adding that “you can perfect whatever skill it is you acquired and you will never be shoved aside or left behind. Your skill if perfected will be sought after, will feed you, will free you and will get you noticed and make you a force to be reckoned with in your locality or beyond,” Concerned about where the deliberations at the conference would go from here, the wife of the governor stressed that there was no excuse not to follow up on the deliberations of conferences like this, she highlighted the fact that “A lot of us attend conferences, make promises, resolutions and believe we have found solutions but on leaving the conferences all is lost and it becomes a wasted effort. May I suggest that we always remember to put a time frame or time limit for our set goals to be achieved.” “We have to take a step further by nominating a few leaders among us to harness our expectations and desires and take them to the doorsteps of African leaders who will (with enough persuasion) act upon our requests.” The conference happened to fall on Mrs. Amosun’s birthday and it was a beautiful moment when unknowingly to Mrs. Amosun, the women in attendance chose one of the tea breaks to transform the conference room into a birthday hall, hastily putting banners up and wheeling a birthday cake in! Mrs. Amosun was stunned, elated and appreciative when she walked back in, thinking they were reconvening only for cheers of ” Happy Birthday” to fill the room! She felt highly honored that such important women across the globe would go through so much effort to celebrate her birthday with her. As if this wasn’t enough of a high point, on day 2 of the conference, during the awards night dinner, Mrs. Amosun was honored with an award, in recognition of her fulfilling and meeting the 7 millennium Development Goals, under Uplift Development Foundation, she again was highly touched and elated.
CHRISTMAS At Stella Obasanjo Children’s Home
The children of Stella Obasanjo Motherless Children’s Homes also had a good opportunity to celebrate the 2012 Christmas with the Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State.
CHRISTMAS At Juvenile Remand Home In Asero
Mrs. Olufunso Amosun was at the Juvenile Remand Home in Asero to celebrate the 2012 Christmas in grand style.
CHRISTMAS At Stephens School
Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun celebrated the 2012 Christmas Party with various children’s homes in Ogun State. In the spirit of the season, Mrs. Amosun was at the Stephen Children Centre, Obantoko, Abeokuta to show love and share gifts with the children.
CHRISTMAS Kiddes Party
The Former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun FCA advised children to give thanks to God for his mercies and protection over them throughout the year 2012. Senator Amosun said this on the 22nd of December, 2012 while addressing children during the 2012. Christmas Party organized by the office of the Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State held at the Ogun State House of Assembly Ground, Governor’s office, Oke-Mosan,Abeokuta. He urged them to always give a helping hand to their parent at home and listen to their teachers at school in order to achieve their goals in life particularly if they aspire to become a notable person in the society.Former Governor Amosun added that the welfare of children was paramount in the agenda of his administration and would do everything humanly possible to create a conducive environment for them to grow and ensure their rights were protected in the State. In her remark, Mrs. Amosun charged children to exemplify the life of Jesus Christ by imbibing the virtue of love and live peaceable with one another in the spirit of Yuletide so that the reason for Christmas would not be forfeited. She urged them to reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ and the reason God sent him to the world and seize the opportunity of the party to mist and relate with other children who had come from different Local Governments in unity adding that Christmas was a season of sharing and caring for one another, most especially the less privileged. She said, “Christmas is a time to show love to our parents and fellow children, so l implore you to be good boys and girls”. The children were entertained by mascots, trains, climbers, bouncy castles and had loads to eat.
ILEYA Kiddies Party
As part of the activities to mark the Eid-el-Kabir celebration, children from the 20 local governments in Ogun State were hosted to a grand party at the Memorial Arcade Ground, Governor’s Office, Abeokuta on the 27th of October, 2012.The party, organised by the wife of the former state governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, was marked with funfair and merriment as children of different age groups took the opportunity of the holiday to enjoy themselves. The wife of the former governor said the season of Eld-el-Kabir should be enjoyed by everyone irrespective of the status and age in a peaceful and exciting atmosphere, devoid of violence. The party was part of her social responsibility activities to enable children in the state to have a good sense of belonging as well as appreciate them. She advised parents to take good care of their wards especially the girl child, urging that they be taught to dance modestly and in a lady-like manner to avoid indecency as this would help them live a meaningful life. Speaking on behalf of the children, Master Oluwole Jiboku from Lawson Private School, thanked the wife of the former governor for bringing them together to have fun under a very serene environment, and prayed that Allah would continue to guide and enable her to do more. Highlights of the party included quiz, games, playing on bouncer and castles, and cutting of the Eid-el-Kabir cake.
13TH Nafsat Annual Women’s Conference
Mrs. Amosun participated at the 13th NASFAT Annual Women’s Week, which took place at the NASFAT headquarters along Lagos/Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State on the 16th of September, 2012. She described the event as a good avenue to sensitise Muslim Women about their expected roles in building a virile society as articulated in the Holy Quran and the Hadith. “Thus, having considered the prevailing socio-economic and political challenges in the country, I must confess that the choice of this year’s theme “Women As Catalyst For Nation Building ” is apt. This is in light of the vital role that we play towards nation building. It is no wonder that Allah (SWT) in His wisdom created us and endowed us with different abilities to stimulate and nurture creative energies in the general populace for productive enterprise and general goodness,” she said.
Women Groups
Women associations from the 20 Local Government areas of Ogun state have commended the Wife of the Former Governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun for her humanitarian service to the people, particularly the needy in the society, calling on other eminent individuals and organisations to emulate her virtues. The women gave the commendation on the 26th of December, 2012 during the end of year parley organised by the Wife of the Former Governor for women associations at the Lawn Tennis Court of the Government House, Oke-Igein, Abeokuta with over 5OO women in attendance. Responding, Mrs. Amsoun thanked all the groups for supporting her Uplift projects which had put smiles on the faces of the needy, saying she was moved by the praises showered on her and would do more to ensure that poverty among women is reduced to the barest minimum in the state. She charged the women in the state to contribute their quota to the development of the state by supporting her husband in the mission to rebuild the state, in order to further enhance the performance of government, saying this would motivate the state government to do more for the people. Speaking, the coordinator of the Immigration Officers Wives Association, Mrs. Arogundade said Mrs. Amosun had touched the lives of women in different ways especially in the area of training and empowerment, noting “a lot of our members who were unemployed can now make ends meet and support their families.” “What we are experiencing now in Ogun State shows there is a brighter future for women. We are all happy with what the Wife of the Former Governor is doing in the state, from the distribution of empowerment tools to widows, youths and women to her donations and support in cash and in kind to the various homes in the state.” Also speaking, the President, Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Dr. Winifred Adenuga noted that Mrs. Amosun’s involvement and contribution to health care delivery, particularly in the campaign against breast and cervical cancer was a significant achievement which speaks volumes of her passion to improve the quality of lives of women in the state. Mrs. Amosun gave out food items which include bags of rice, beans, vegetable oil, cartons of spaghetti, Indomie and bags of sugar with cash gifts to each groups to have a feel of the Yuletide season.