President of Customs Officers’ Wives Association, Hajiya Sa’adiya Dikko, said last Thursday that over 700 members of the association had been trained in fashion design, soap and bead making.

Dikko stated this at the opening of a two-day workshop organised by the association in Gwagwalada to promote healthy living and wealth creation.

She said that the association, which was established in 2009, had focused more on the area of health and wealth creation because of the nature of their husband’s duty.

“Our husband’s duties most times keep them away from home in the service of our great country.

“It is my belief that a healthy and economically able wife will give the husband the necessary confidence to discharge his functions wherever he is.”

She pledged that the association would intensify efforts to promote health and empower more women in order to improve the living standards of families.

Highlighting other achievements of the association, Dikko said that soft loans and work tools had been provided to customs and non-customs family members to set up small-scale businesses.

She said that the group had embarked on anti-malaria campaigns in Abuja, Niger, Kwara and Kogi States and distributed anti-mosquito treated nets and insecticides.

The president added that the association had also embarked on the fumigation of some customs barracks across the country.

She expressed appreciation to the World Customs Organisation (WCO) for recognising the activities of the association.

“It is heart-warming to note the recognition of COWA activities by the WCO as a strong tool of building integrity among women customs officers and men globally’’ she said.

Dikko said that the workshop would feature discussions on the role of women in maternal mortality reduction.

Reports say that the scourge of maternal mortality is still high in Nigeria, with the country trailing India in the highest number of death of pregnant women globally.