The Coordinator, Office of the First Lady, Akwa Ibom State, Lady Helen Eno Obareki, has called for action to be taken in the enforcement of the rights of the Girl Child beyond advocacy talk shop.
The First Lady Designate stated this on Thursday at the Sam Momah Annual Lecture and the inauguration of a Reading Room and Conference Centre, at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) conference hall.
The lecture had as its theme, “The Girl Child: Building Stakeholders’ Buy-In,” and Commissioning
Represented by the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Emem Ibanga, Lady Obareki noted that investing in the Girl Child meant putting in place a sustainable strategy for peace, progress, and prosperity.
“Advocacy alone is not enough. We must move from awareness to action, from compassion to commitment, and talk to transformation.
“When we invest in girls, we are not doing charity. We are executing a sustainable strategy for peace, progress, and prosperity,” she said.
The Coordinator also said that the Office of the First Lady, in line with the ‘Arise Agenda’ of the State Government, had recorded impressive strides towards giving the Girl Child a voice in Akwa Ibom.
According to her, such strides include the housing of more than 800 orphans and vulnerable children in the state-run orphanages, enforcement of the Child’s Rights Law, with more than 200 abuse and exploitation cases prosecuted in Family Courts since May 2023, as well as the prohibition of Child hawking and child labour during school hours.
She said that her office also established the Children’s Parliament in all 31 Local Government Areas of the state, rescued, rehabilitated, and reintegrated the Baby Factory victims, among other achievements.
Similarly, the Executive Secretary of Sam Momah Foundation, Dr Tobe Momah, said that the foundation, established in honour of his late father, General Sam Momah, aimed to promote reading culture in Nigeria and Africa at large.
He said that as part of measures to carry out its core mandate, the foundation had put together reading competitions for students across the country.
He said the foundation also donated books to libraries and schools.
Earlier in a keynote address, Dr Grace Matemavi, Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Mississippi Medical Centre, called on governments and relevant bodies to invest in the future of the Girl Child.
Matemavi said that key strategies to achieving this included encouraging the Girl Child to align their passions with a sense of purpose, provision of mentorship programmes for them, provision of sponsorship and coaching opportunities, among other strategies.
High points of the event were the presentation of an award of Recognition to Lady Obareki in honour of her outstanding contributions to the empowerment and development of the Girl Child, presentation of prizes to winners of the Sam Momah Essay competition, as well as the inauguration of the Sam Momah Reading Room and Conference Centre, UUTH performed by the First Lady Designate.
By Dianabasi Effiong
