Thirteen indigent citizens of Rivers State have been awarded scholarship by the wife of the state governor, Dame Judith Amaechi.

Mrs Amaechi who disclosed this  in her office when the executive members of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) paid her a courtesy call said out of the 13 persons, eight are girls, while the rest are boys.

She said more people will also benefit from the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI)’s soap making and fashion industry which will soon be functional.

The first lady urged women to take advantage of the facilities provided by her pet project (ESI), and the state government to better their lives.

She enumerated some achievements of ESI which include free, quality education for children in the kindergarten and  primary schools, provision of taxi cabs for women, empowerment of women through adult education, provision of monogram machine, organising leadership fellowship and training, among others.

She called for the collaboration of NAWOJ in championing the course of women and the girl-child in the state, adding that with the combined effort of NAWOJ and ESI, peculiar problems of women and the girl-child in the state would be adequately handled.

“We are determined to make impact on not only the lives of women and children but men as well. So, join us to make Rivers State a better place to live and make our children have a cause to live”, she solicited.

Earlier, the state chairman of NAWOJ, Ms Enale Kodu said the women journalists were in her office to congratulate her for her efforts towards improving the lives of women in the state and to intimate her on the achievement of the association.

She stated that since the current executive committee of NAWOJ assumed office in August 2011 they have embarked an advocacy and sensitizing projects in many rural communities in the state with the aim of informing the rural women and girls about the existence of government projects and the need to take advantage of them.

She asked for the assistance of the governor’s wife and ESI in the association to a greater height.

In a related development, Dame Amaechi has called on female journalists in the country to use their position as watchdog of society to highlight the plight of the less privileged and the needy.

Dame Amaechi made the call while receiving members of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), who paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI), a non-governmental organization founded by the Rivers State First Lady.

She stated that the contribution of journalists as watchdog of society cannot be over-emphasised and urged them to use their privileged position to address the challenge of  the Nigerian nation.

Dame Amaechi, who extolled the contribution of journalism to national development, stated that the media practitioners should focus on developmental journalism in their reportage.

According to her, “I am glad that Nigerian Journalists are among the best and have contributed significantly to the development of the country”.

She further charged members of NAWOJ to initiate advocacy programme on health related matters that affect the society saying that ignorance was the cause of some of the health challenges that have resulted in death.

She stated that the Empowerment Support Initiative was founded in 2008 and was in response to the challenges of moral decadence in the society.

Earlier in her speech, Chairman of NAWOJ, Rivers State, Enale Kodu said the association was pleased with the success recorded by the NGO which has touched lives in several ways.

She pledged the determination of the NAWOJ to partner with ESI in areas that would better the lot of the people.

Calista Ezeaku