Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun at the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro in Ogun State on the 9th of October, 2012, expressed her desire for equal access to education, training, science and technology for women and the girl-child as this would go a long way in empowering them and assist in the elimination of discrimination and promote the eradication of poverty. She stated this during the 6th National Conference of Women in Technical Education and Empowerment with the theme: “Enhancing Female Education and Employment in Science and Technology for Sustained National Transformation.” The wife of the former governor noted that the conference was a unique opportunity to re-examine our commitment towards the improvement o f women’ s participation in technical, vocational and professional education, stressing the need to help women acquire business, trade, information and entrepreneurship skill and to address the different setbacks facing women. She added that efforts should be intensified to respond to women’s clarion call in areas of research, development and scientific technology and to encourage children, most especially the girl-child, to show more interest in science and technology related subjects to enhance sustainable national development. Mrs. Amosun called on members of WITED to come up with programmes of action that would create education and training opportunities for women, saying their contributions to all fields of education and training had become more obvious hence the need to celebrate and encourage them to do more. She presented prizes and certificates to excelling female students in secondary, science subjects and asked the organizers of the event to identify the overall best student of the competition for upward sponsorship at the state level to motivate them to do more. In his address, the National Coordinator, Women in Technical Education and Employment (WITED), Engineer Francis Osiki submitted that the main o b j e c t i v e o f t h e conference was to identify problems confronting women in the areas of science and technology and to tackle them headlong to achieve a meaningful and realistic sustainable transformation. He commended women for getting more involved in science related fields, describing science and technology as a veritable tool for achieving national development which would enhance the socio- economic growth of any developing nation. Also speaking, the Rector, Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Dr. R. A. Oloyo added that national transformation could never be achieved without paying due attention to the basic human needs and social requirements, noting that the conference would lead people particularly women to develop 21st Century skills and make them acquire values for good citizenship. Oloyo called on Nigerian youths to be awakened to the reality and importance of vocational and technical education, saying it was only through this, that the problems of unemployment among the youth and poverty among adults could be reduced.
Author: miji
Two Years Of Enriching Family Ties
The Spouses o f Ogun State Government Functionaries Association (SOSGFA), founded by the Wife of the Former Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun has become an asset by adding to the value of governance in the State. For the second year running, the association has proved to be a force to reckon with. Peopled by the spouses of the State Government Functionaries, SOSGFA has become an impact forum for interaction, building family ties as their husbands join Ogun State Former Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun FCA in the Mission to Rebuild the State. In her inaugural speech, Mrs. Amosun explained that SOSGFA was established to fill the gap noticed among the spouses of government functionaries. According to her, “I observed that there is a need for the spouses of government functionaries to have a medium of getting together to support one another whilst their spouses are away at work, supporting His Excellency Senator Ibikunle Amosun in his Mission to Rebuild Ogun State. This support takes the Government functionaries away from their various homes late into the night on a regular basis and leaves us spouses and children at home wondering what to do with ourselves.” This gap became so obvious during the 2011 Christmas Holidays as there was no meeting point for the children of government functionaries to interact. The matter was more disturbing as children of government functionaries who had come home from far and near to celebrate Yuletide season went back to their different destinations without getting to meet one another from their various places of learning and left without getting to even meet one another. This got the Wife of the Former Governor thinking on how to bridge the gap and create a platform that will bring together spouses of government functionaries to interact and build family ties among Ogun State Government Functionaries. Thus the birth if Spouses of Ogun State Government Functionaries Association (SOSGFA). The Association is open to all spouses of political appointees from the members of Ogun State Executive Council to the Special Assistants. Also included in the Association are spouses of members of Ogun State House of Assembly and spouses of the 20 local government areas of the State. The spouses of the Local Government chairmen are otherwise called Chairpersons.Since its inauguration on the 7th of March, 2012 at the Progress Hall, South-west Resource Centre, Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta, SOSGFA has succeeded to a very large extent in enriching family ties among members of government functionaries whilst they contribute their quotas in rebuilding Ogun State. The Association has successfully organised a family picnic and among other programme. SOSGFA within the year under review organised first Tafsir programme for members at the Government House in August 2012. It was indeed a huge success. SOSGFA had also successfully staged the first Ramadan Essay Writing/Quiz Competition which school children across the State participated and winners were rewarded handsomely. The monthly edition of the SOSGFA Empowerment Scheme is another success story of the Association in empowering members across board. SOSGFA has continued to grow in leaps and bounds.
Launch Of Green Education For The Youths(GEFTY)
As part of activities marking the 2013 Children’s Day celebration, Mrs.Amosun launched Green Education for the Youth (GEFTY) initiative on the 27th of May, 2013 with the aim of equipping them with the tools of green education to enable them nurture the environment for their future benefits. She advised children and youths in the state to support and promote her campaign for the going green initiative through tree planting to ensure a sustainable and healthy environment. Speaking during the 2013 Children’s Day celebration and launching of the GEFTY initiative at the MKO Abiola International Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta, Mrs. Amosun put all the children and youths in stadium to the task of flagging off the Ogun State Youth 10,000 Tree Planting exercise which was accomplished through the 7,000 children present at the ceremony in the stadium and the rest were given to the guardians, parents and well-wishers also in attendance? At the launch of the GEFTY initiative Mrs. Amosun in her speech expressed what motivated her to embark on this initiative and her vision for it. “As the wife of the governor, with it not being my place to meddle in matters concerning laws or policies, I am launching a 2 level initiative called GEFTY. Level 1 is Green Education For The Youth, whilst Level 2 is Green Empowerment For The Youth. We are all aware that our youths are vibrant, adaptable, mobile and upward looking; they are the destined leaders of tomorrow and a fundamental force to tap into. That is why carrying them along and taking them on-board of the going green campaign from the onset in any nation, is of paramount importance, the way forward and the wise thing to do. However, to my uttermost dismay, I found during various discussions with our youth and surprisingly lots adults too, that quite a lot of people think of landscaping when you mention going green, some think they are actually synonymous! This prompted me to personally sit down and write a basic picture illustrated handbook called GEFTY, to assist, enlighten and arm our youth, who are the future leaders with basic knowledge of environmental sustainability through this handbook. The Level 1 GEFTY initiative is being launched today being children’s day, by giving 5000 children my self-written GEFTY handbook to educate you on the basics of going green. There are over 7000 students from across the state in this stadium and several adults, youths and female associations are also here to share the joy of children’s day with their wards. Each child will be given a tree seedling to take back to their various schools to be planted under the supervision of their agricultural teacher, this is being stressed as we do not want chaotic planting over the state. The adults here present will be given the rest of the seedlings to take home to children of neighbors to take to their schools and as such, here and now, 10,000 seedlings will be sent on their way for planting, while the agric teachers are charged with the responsibility of feeding us back through the ministry of education,if no seedlings turn up in your school for planting so that we can send some to you. One important deterring factor that I have observed, is the lack of connect. We talk a lot about tree planting when talking about environmental sustainability, but people don’t seem to grasp the relevance of actually working towards sustaining the environment, Level 2 of the GEFTY initiative explains to the youth that apart from sustaining the environment to save their own world when we are gone, going green is an empowerment tool, one that is useful in earning a living. Green Empowerment For The Youth (GEFTY) is dynamic, once you have the technical know how of going green, the sky is the limit to your earning opportunities. Let me give an analogy of how GEFTY Level 2 will put food on the table, cloths on our back and also get the rent and school fees paid whilst still work towards sustaining our environment. Let’s educate them on agricultural cash crop tree planting and get our unemployed youths off the street into farmland orchards: they plant fruit trees in tons on acres of land, and in so doing they sustain the environment and the forest inhabitants whilst earning a living: are you with me?For better clarity, Imagine if the 10,000 seedlings I gave out on children’s day were orange tree seedlings, Think of selling orchard fruits like apples, grapefruits or oranges to fruit juice companies to process into packed juice for sale. Just imagine the of the number of jobs in that production line………from harvesting at the orchard to delivering to factories (delivery jobs), from delivery to sorting, from sorting to processing, from processing to packing, from packing to delivering, delivering to marketing, marketing to wholesalers, then to retailers then to consumers, whao!! Just from planting some fruit seedlings trees? There is an endless list of white collar jobs in the area of environmental sustainability such as engineering, science and technology, power efficiency, legal jobs, marketing jobs administrative jobs and a host of others. Part of the objectives of the GEFTY Level 2 initiative is to educate our youth on recycling technics and get our unemployed youths off the street by empowering them to get into recycling business of turning our waste to wealth.”She explained that the initiative was geared towards promoting a clean and healthy environment that was void of environmental pollution as well as teaching them to protect their future to be able to contribute to the progress of the state and Nigeria by extension. According to her, “The world is going green and job creation is going green and we do not want our children to be left out in the sensitization of the green initiative. Today, we shall be flagging–off 10,000 tree seedlings to be distributed to our children for planting in their homes and environment to ensure greener and better condition of the
The Aged Welfare Bank Cards
Determined to make life more meaningful to the senior citizens and offer a helping hand to needy elderly people who due to old age or one thing or another,could not fend for themselves, the Wife of the Former Governor on the 21st of May, 2013 distributed 500 UPLIFT Aged Welfare ATM Cards to elderly people from the 20 Local Government areas of the State. Speaking during the launching ceremony of the UPLIFT Aged Welfare Cards at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto in Abeokuta, Mrs. Amosun said the cards would hasten disbursement of funds and reduce the rigor and other challenges encountered during ongoing monthly distribution of food and commodities provided by the UPLIFT Development Foundation that commenced a year and a half ago. The aged beneficiaries reside in various locations across the length and breadth of Ogun State and this sometimes makes it very difficult to get to them in good time each month. She explained that the Welfare Card, which was donated by Ecobank Plc, was in continuation of the her UPLIFTing the Aged monthly welfare package which was flagged off in January 2012, saying the enlisted aged people could now access their monthly stipends through the Welfare Cards to purchase their food and other commodities without having to come down to Abeokuta or workers of Uplift Development Foundation travelling hundreds of kilometers to distribute those items on a monthly basis. According to her, “The Welfare Cards are in line with the proposed cashless policy of the State Government to reduce handling of cash in the society. Also speaking, the Executive Director of Ecobank Plc, Mr. Kingsley Aigbokhaevbo said the Welfare Cards would enable the senior citizens gain access to the monthly allowance without stress and commended Ogun State government for being a pacesetter in human-oriented projects as part of its mission to rebuild the state,opportunity to partner with her Uplift Development Foundation and the State Government, urging other states to emulate the project in order to give succor to the less privileged in the society. Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Madam Alice Bello from Ikenne Local Government commended the initiative of the Wife of the Governor whom she described as a caring and compassionate woman that was committed to the well-being of the needy particularly the aged who are too weak to work to earn a living and those that had retired from active service.
World Malaria Day 2013
Mrs. Amosun joined the rest of the world on the 25th of April, 2013 to intensify the campaign against the dreaded disease called malaria by organizing an awareness and intervention program for expectant mothers in the waterside area of Ogun State. Women were encouraged to troop out at Iwopin in the Ogun Waterside Local Government area of Ogun State, where Mrs. Amosun addressed the crowd expressing that environmental cleanliness was of great importance in the fight against Malaria, stressing that stagnant water and dirty gutters must be guided against. The Medical Women Association Nigeria (Ogun State Chapter) were in their usual humanitarian fashion, voluntarily on ground to address the crowd and give them tips on how to reduce mosquitoes breeding in their surrounds, in a bid to reduce malaria. Treated mosquito nets an multivitamins were given out free of charge at the event, Mrs. Amosun thanked the donors and expressed her appreciation and desire to continue to join hands with donor agencies and corporate organizations to fight against malaria and reach out to the underprivileged in the society at large.
International Going Green Conference and Workshop
On the 23rd and 24thof April, 2013, Mrs. Amosun held a massive International Going Green Conference and Workshop which took place at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta. In attendance were members of the European Parliament, members from West African countries, executive Governors of Nigeria, Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Members of the Federal House of Representatives in Nigeria, several First Ladies of states in Nigeria, the Consular General to the French Embassy in Nigeria, and a magnitude of professionals and Environmentalists from Europe, West Africa and Nigeria. The International Conference and workshop that was organized by the UPLIFT Development Foundation in partnership with The International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) and Knowledge Economy Network (KEN) had various international and local agencies and NGO’s in attendance.Speaking at the conference, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) expressed its readiness to partner with UPLIFT and Ogun State in general in its Going Green initiative. The House Committee Chairman on Environment, Hon. Uche Ekwunife noted that the concept of going green was to ensure the objective of improving the environment, maintaining that the issue of climate change has become a global challenge which governments at all levels and stakeholders must work together to address. “We must create green environment, access to clean energy and water, pollution-free environment, reduction in waste and immensely improve our ecosystem. This will make companies to pursue profits in more sustainable ways and ensure economic benefits for all,” she said. She noted that efforts to support conventional ways of granting access to energy and electricity must be geared towards generating energy from renewed and alternative sources which would preserve the environment, urging other legislators to update the policies in all spheres of life to reflect environmental improvement and initiate bills that are people and environmental friendly. His Excellency Senator Ibikunle Amosun the chief host of the event, urged the citizens of Ogun State to cultivate the habit of protecting the environment whilst carrying out their day-to-day activities, he canvassed for a synergy between private and public sectors to protect the environment. ”There is need for public private partnership in promoting important policies and instruments for environmental protection”. Mrs. Amosun, the convener of the conference, stated that her main objective is to work with the youth to accomplish here fete of Ogun State and Nigeria as a whole going green. She expressed how dynamic, energetic and motivated our youth, the future leaders of tomorrow are, and explained how she wished to educate the youth on the basics and necessity of going green and then empower them to earn a living whilst sustaining the environment. This she said would be flagged off under her GEFTY (Green Education For The Youth) Initiative.She expressed that the aims and objectives of the conference were to get international bodies and Government officials present at the conference to create an enabling environment for her GEFTY initiative to flourish, by putting laws in place that would encourage ‘green’ behavior by industries, organizations and government agencies. i.e. laws that would mandate industries to dispose off waste properly, laws that encourage industries to recycle their waste especially by buying back used containers of their products, laws that compel industries to use energy efficient machinery and create less pollution to the environment like solar powered machines instead of generator powered machinery. She said once laws and the enforcement of the laws were in place, it would help towards the progress and success of any going green initiative in Nigeria. According to her, “Going Green means adopting basic principles like reducing pollution, converse resources, reduce waste energy, protect the earth’s ecological balance and recycling products to protect the environment from harm, as well as ensuring living on earth is sustainable for human and other creatures.” adding that she hoped that one of the outcomes of the conference would be to find solutions and ways of reducing adverse environmental impacts, conserve energy and resources get us all to live a healthier lives.
Going Green initiative
Mrs. Amosun recently embarked on Going Green initiative, workingtoward a sustainable environment focusing mainly on getting our youth on board, to ensure that the next generation is environmentally friendly and compliant. The initiative started with a Tree Planting exercise that saw all the Ogun State EXCO members under the Senator Ibikunle Amosun FCA led administration as well as civil servants led by the Head of Service Mrs. Adekunle each planting a tree in their name. Dr. Newton Jibunoh of (FADE) and the committee chairman house of representative on environment Mrs. Uche Ekwunife and a host of other dignitaries took part in this tree planting exercise.The tree planting exercise was followed immediately by a 5km Green Awareness Walk by the Ogun State government on the19th of April, 2013 to sensitize citizens of the state on the basics of going green and the necessity for everyone to make little changes in their day to day activities that would help in working towards a sustainable environment.
Under-15 Grassroot Football Easter Camp
During the Easter holidays in 2013, Mrs. Amosun decided to engage young male talented children in government-owed secondary schools in the State in an U15 Grassroot football Talent Hunt Competition. She wanted to keep them occupied as well as identify raw talent in the kids that could be harnessed by creating opportunities for identified talented players. The football competition was open to all male talented students in secondary schools in the state between the ages of 13 and 15. Thousands showed up, and about 350 of them were selected and taken into a one week camp where they were fed, kitted and coached. Football matches were played all day everyday for the whole duration of the camp under the keen eyes of professional and internationally acclaimed footballers such as Mr. Jim Colston, a renowned scout for the English Premiership League in the United Kingdom and Nigeria’s own very dear celebrated footballers, Chief Olusegun Odegbami and Football Ambassador, Mr. John Fashanu, all of whom were on ground for the whole duration of the training, elimination and selection process of the competition. At the end of the camp, 15 young lads were identified as astonishingly outstanding, and 7 others were identified as ‘wonders in boots’. Mrs. Amosun, mindful of the fact that these young talented players are all minors and also school students and as such, she stressed that any program that would disturb the footballer’s schooling or studies is of no interest to her. For her, U15 football skills must be built on a solid educational foundation, she is therefore working tirelessly to secure sponsorship for the boys, to enable them attend an international football training academy over the summer holidays.
Widows Skill Acquisition
As part of measures to reach out and lend a helping hand to those in need, Mrs. Amosun organised a three day skill acquisition workshop for 200 widows in April 2013. The workshop, which took place at the Office of the Wife of the Former Governor located at the South-West Resource Centre, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, was aimed at empowering the widows to be self sufficient income earners. The programme was specially put together for the needy widows, where they were put through the process of soap and cream making. “The training was organized to uplift women that were going through financial hardship due to the loss of their spouse, for the purpose of empowering them to become self reliant and self Sufficient. “We initiated the training workshop to enable them earn a living, boost their economic power and help them cater for their children and other dependents,” she said. The Lead Trainer, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Okikiola Victor said the vocational training would afford the beneficiaries the opportunity to learn about soap & cream making, and its applications, advising them to practice what they had learnt in the course of the training in order to be self- reliant. Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Oluremi Badejo commended the wife of the governor for investing in the lives of the needy widows by organising workshop in order to help them to be self-employed, pledging they would utilise the training programme and practice what they had been taught to improve the income. “The workshop was very educative, it is a rare opportunity and I believe nobody can take away the knowledge we have gained from us. Through this empowerment program, we will be gainfully employed and will be able to sustain ourselves and our children without having to rely on family members and in- laws.” The widows were drawn from the 20 Local Government areas in the State. They were taught how to make liquid and bar soaps, body cream and disinfectant, and they were empowered with token monetary gifts by the wife of the former governor to enable them start up their business immediately.
Youths Through Beautification
Unemployment among our youth is a huge problem in the society, one that needs to be addressed urgently. When youths are gainfully engaged, there is less mischief in the society; we all know that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. With this in mind, in the spirit of Yuletide, Mrs. Amosun called on all unemployed youths between the ages of 20 – 30 in the state, to come and beautify their own state capital by putting up Christmas decorations. The objective of this program was to empower the youth by putting them through a hands on intensive training workshop teaching them how put up Christmas decorations professionally whilst putting smiles on their faces at Christmas time by paying them tokens which could serve as start up stipends for them after being put through the training workshop. On the 18th of December 2012, approximately 250 suitable youths were shortlisted and recruited for the beatification training program, they were taught how to put up Christmas decorations and went off under supervision to adorned the ancient city of Abeokuta with befitting Christmas lights and unique decorations to reflect the spirit of the season. To add indigenous flavour into the season and boost the sales of adire traders in the state, only Adire fabric sold in the local markets was allowed for the beautification exercise. Lights and other decorations that were put up, and the token cash stipends for the 250 youths for their efforts was funded by the State Government at the end of the one week exercise.