Like the proverbial virtuous woman who keeps the gate for her man, mama Enugu and the wife of the Executive Governor of Enugu state, Her Excellency Monica Ugochi Ugwuanyi can best be described as a woman with a heart of gold. A woman who understands her ideal role in the family. A true pillar of support to her equally lovable husband. The maxim that behind every successful man, there must be a woman of virtue beside or behind him has continued to resonate with this wonderful first family of the state. In the realization of her noble role to support her husband to achieve his governance objectives, Mrs. Monica Ugochi Ugwuanyi have never failed to showcase the ideals of good governance initiatives which her husband has brought to bear in the state.
Mrs. Ugwuanyi has been consistent in her advocacy to address societal ills against select groups in the society such as the elderly, children and the vulnerable in a keen effort to complement the efforts of her husband towards ameliorating the lives of the citizens of Enugu state. Just recently, Her Excellency rose in her usual characteristics manner to make a case for a very significant session of the populace, the women and the girl child whom she noted are the major victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse, female genital mutilation, public harassment, among other forms of violence. Baring her minds, matter of factly, Mrs. Ugwuanyi noted also that even the men are also victims of domestic violence as some women are in the habit of beating their own husbands. The campaign was essentially to draw awareness about this ugly societal ills and call for concerted efforts from all and sundry to stem the tide for the progress of the society.
It is important to underscore the importance of this campaign advocacy about gender based violence especially on the women folks or the girl child. In the years gone by, girl children are not valued as their male counterparts especially in the African societies which has resulted in many prejudices against them. Almost all or some parts of these prejudices have continued till date, it has therefore become imperative for the right thinking people, the people in government and the elites to draw awareness of the many atrocities against the women and girl children with a view to giving them their rightful position as co-owners and equal partners in the development of the society.
The girl child need to be educated equally just as her male colleague. They need to be exposed to equal opportunities as well. The girl child or woman is a human too. She should not be stereotyped as hewers of wood and drawers of water. Train a girl child and you have trained a whole nation. The varied domestic violence against the girl child or the women is totally uncalled for, it is counter productive and runs counter to course of natural justice. This is the summary of what mama Enugu, Mrs. Monica Ugochi Ugwuanyi seem to saying via her potent advocacy campaign.
The wife of the Governor having thoughtfully considered the importance of the girl child and of course women in nation building, swiftly commenced this sensitization and awareness creation which was flagged off at Michael Okpala Square Independence lay-out and is billed to be taken to the parents in every nooks and crannies of the state.
Her Excellency, while admonishing parents to do away with negative mindset about training their girl child to higher educational level, reminded them that notable women like the current DG of World Trade Organization, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala are world celebrities today courtesy of the educational opportunities their parents offered them. She frowned at the frequent manner parents have often send their children especially the girls as house helps to others where they would end up as hawkers instead of being educationally trained, noting that such gambles have often destroyed the future of their children, while a significant others ended up in brothels as prostitutes and other vices.
The observations of the first Lady, Her Excellency Mrs Monica Ugochi Ugwuanyi could not be described as mere political gerrymandering but a sincere concern to address the social ills in the land. Mrs. Ugwuanyi is truly “Osodieme” (one who supports her husband in good governance). Her efforts in this campaign and similar others before it must be commended. We affirm that Enugu state is truly in the hands of God Almighty.
BIBIAN ANEKWE NEWS. *Let’s join hands together with Her Excellency Mrs Monica Ugwuanyi to end gender based violence in Enugu state. We move
Written by
Emma Chukwu
A Political Analyst
MEDIA TEAM MEMBER OF ENUGU DI N’AKACHUKWU MOVEMENT
