By Chris Chimezie
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Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has described the wife of Ondo State Governor, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu as a visionary woman who has impacted positively into the lives of women and the girl-child through her various  programmes.

The Governor was the chairman of the First FOWOSO Summit tagged “Unlocking Hidden Potentials in Women: A Task for All”, held at the International Culture and Event Centre (The Dome) in Akure.

The forum which was established by Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, is targeted at discovering the hidden potentials in women by exposing them to various skill acquisition Programmes for self-reliance.

He pointed out that Mrs Akeredolu who is also the initiator of BRECAN has successfully impacted the fundamental lessons that when women are developed, we would have successfully built the whole society which is the only way to sustain progress.

“It is also a lesson for those of us who are in policy making and implementation that one single stroke of pen can advance the course of women and will do a lot in advancing the course of the society.

“Through this, we can do away with maternal and child mortality and we can do away with poverty if we focus a lot more on our girl-children and our women”, he said.

Fayemi who advocated the need for gender equality in all spheres of human endeavour, urged women to be fully committed in making a difference in governance.

Also, Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), enjoined the over eight hundred women who benefitted from the various Skill Acquisition Programmes organised by the Forum For Wives of Ondo State Officials (FOWOSO), to transfer the knowledge acquired to their family members and women in their various local government areas.

Akeredolu who commended his wife for her commitment at giving the women a renewed hope in economic emancipation and re-shaping their intellectual perspective for a better future, noted that the project is really living up to the vision of its founder and called for more support from all stakeholders for the sustenance and expansion of the program.

Governor Akeredolu noted that about 800 women which included wives of top government functionaries have been trained in various skills such as: soapmaking, wig and bead making, shoe making among other  profitable ventures.

“Don’t throw the skills you have acquired away. I want to admonish you all to endeavour to affect the lives of other women in your various local governments by organising trainings for them in various skills.

“This noble gesture, if critically adhered to, would go a long way in empowering the women to be self-reliant and as well, conquer poverty in their domains.

“Through Skill Acquisition Programmes, women can as well,  contribute in engineering the socio-economic development in Ondo State and Nigeria at large”, he said.

Arakunrin Akeredolu who is the Grand Patron of FOWOSO, moreover, commended members of “BEMORE”, another  initiative of Mrs Akeredolu aimed at discovering the hidden talents in the girl-child through exposing them to ICT and other impactful programmes.

“BEMORE”, which simply implies that the girls can ‘be more’ than the point at which they restricted themselves to, by being encouraged to acquire skills, be composed, and position themselves to accomplish their set goals.

While commending them for their brilliant performances at various competitions, both locally and internationally, Arakunrin Akeredolu expressed the readiness of the present administration to further encourage the youths through  scholarships.