Wife of the Governor of Anambra State and founder of the NGO, Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ), Dr. Ebelechukwu Obiano (Osodieme), and crème de la crème of Anambra women from all walks of life, converged on Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, for the 2021 Mothers’ Summit. Also present were five First Ladies as Guests of Honour.

These were Mrs. Kafayat Oyetola, Dr. Mrs. Gloria Diri, Mrs. Anna Darius Ishaku, Engr. Mrs. Olufunke Makinde, and Mrs. Monica Ugwuanyi of Osun, Bayelsa, Taraba, Oyo and Enugu states respectively.

The theme of the 2021 Mothers’ Summit: Fighting Gender Violence in COVID-19 World, was chosen to generate discussions and to seek ways to end the social scourge.

Mothers Summit is an annual platform for deliberation on issues of common interest to Anambra women in the evolving demands of modernity. It seeks to arouse their interest in community development and to set agenda for the yearly August Meetings in the various communities across the state.

Addressing the Summit, Mrs. Obiano called for emphasis on grassroots sensitization and awareness-creation on issues of Gender-Based violence. This, she emphasized, would ensure that mothers were adequately informed; urging them to pay attention to behaviour of their children and also the men to ensure they are engaged in meaningful ventures. She insisted that it is everyone’s duty to ensure that the society is rid of the ugly trend of violence.

Continuing, Mrs. Obiano stated that her NGO, CAFE, is at the forefront of the campaign against any form of violence against women as well as girl-child or boys. She explained that the organization’s skills training and empowerment programme, which has over 5,500 indigent women and youth beneficiaries to help boost their economic self-reliance, is aimed at reducing poverty and vulnerability to all forms of abuses.

In the same vein, the visiting First Ladies, in their respective goodwill messages, confirmed that the Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum, their umbrella association, is at the vanguard of the fight against Gender-Based violence with the push for domestication of the Child Rights Act by the thirty-six states of Nigeria.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Talen, represented by the Director, Gender Affairs, Mrs. Friya Bulus, said that rising cases of gender violence are due to economic deprivation and lack of social security for many.

Welcoming the participants, Anambra State Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Lady Ndidi Mezue, said that the fight against gender-based violence requires an approach that is both liberating and self-sustaining, stressing that socio-economic emancipation remains the shortest route to ending the ugly trend.

According to the International Growth Centre (IGC), a global network of world-leading researchers and in-country teams in Africa, thirty percent of women and girls in Nigeria, aged between fifteen and forty-nine, are experiencing one form of abuse or the other.

The Keynote Speaker at the Summit, Prof Chike Okoye of the Department of English and Linguistic Studies, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, noted that economic stress, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions were veritable triggers for all forms of violence and abuse. He recommended economic empowerment and sexual education of target groups.

Also, Commissioner for Basic Education, Prof Kate Omenugha, who spoke in Igbo to the appreciation of the mix-audience, called for concerted effort by mothers in ensuring that there is stability at the home front.

On his part, the All Progressives Grand Alliance gubernatorial candidate, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, called for action on the issue of Gender-Based violence through effective legislation and implementation. He commended Osodieme for programmes of her NGO, which, he noted, reflects the true meaning of the APGA philosophy of “Be your brothers and sisters keeper.”

The 2021 Mothers’ Summit was unique, not only because it would be the last hosted by Mrs. Obiano, as First Lady of Anambra State, but because it dealt with a contemporary issue. The Summit was indeed a clarion call to action against gender-based violence.

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