Wife of Rivers State Governor, Mrs Suzette Nyesom Wike (2nd right), Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Ukel Oyaghiri (left), wife of Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Mrs Charity Adams (right) and another guest on arrival at the church service to mark International Women’s Day at Christ Church Interdenominational, Port Harcourt, yesterday

They came from dif
ferent places, adorned in beautiful, colourful attires, with smiles on their faces.  The event was International Women’s Day and Women from the 23 local government areas in the Rivers State, including female professional bodies, market women, Moslem Women Association, Christian  Women Association and other women in the state had gathered at Sharks’ Football Stadium (Civic Centre), Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, to join their counterparts all over the world to mark the day.
International Women’s Day was first celebrated on March 19, 1911, with activities like rallies and meetings.  The March 19 date was chosen because it commemorated the day that the Prussian King promised to introduce votes for women in 1848.  In 1913,  International Women’s Day the (IWD) was moved to March 8.  In 1977, the United Nations added impetus to the celebration by inviting member states to proclaim  March 8 as the United Nations Day for Women’s Right and International Peace.  The event is aimed at helping nations worldwide eliminate discrimination against women. It also focuses  on helping women gain full and equal participation in global development.
Over the years, women in Rivers State have been part of this great celebration.  With this year’s theme: Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up For Gender Equality”, they assembled to reflect on how to accelerate the 2030 agenda.
The Tuesday event was preceded by an Interdenominational Church Service at Christ Church, Forces Avenue on Sunday, March 6, followed by visits to charity homes in Port Harcourt on Monday, March 7.
In her welcome address, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Barr. (Mrs) Ukel Oyaghiri, said over the years, the female gender, has not attained the expected level of development as their male counterparts, due to unequal treatment meted on the girl-child which has made them not to develop their God given potentials, adding that we cannot achieve sustainable development if the female  gender is not developed to function well in the society as their male counterparts.
Oyaghiri called on men to give equal treatment to the female children, empower them and ensure that  the rights to their wives and girl-children are protected.
She said her ministry organized this year’s International Women’s Day in a grand style with the hope of touching lives of girl-child, women, children with special needs through the support of the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, who is gender friendly and who has ensured inclusion of more women in his administration, so as to accelerate the 2030 agenda of building momentum for effective implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as her ministry pledge, to close the gender disparity between and men and women and to ensure that by 2030, the ration between men to women will be 50-50″.
Oyaghiri expressed optimism hope that with the support of top government official wives, women drawn from the 23 local government areas (LGSs), governmental and non-governmental groups, female, professional bodies, the desire of ensuring better lives for the less privileged, children with special needs and the physically-challenged in our society will be achieved.
Oyaghiri, who has been the 2nd Vice President of the Taekwando Association of Nigeria and a black belt holders, Black Belt College, urged families especially the men  and traditional rulers who still hold onto the obnoxious practices in our society to stop those sharp practices as there was no head way in them and charged them to give equal training to their girl-children as their male counterparts.
She stressed that the entire Rivers people of good-will must ensure the visibility and inclusion of women and girls in all the processes of development and added that this indeed, is the real democracy and gender mainstreaming where women and men are working together peacefully without discrimination to achieve accelerated and sustainable development in the society.
She charged Rivers women to improve on their performances in order to produce and become great women of integrity ready to work hand in hand with their male counterparts to build a better Rivers State come 2030.
In his speech, the Governor of the state, Chief Nyesom Wike, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, (SSG), Keneth Kobani, promised that, his government would continue to enhance and protect the advancement of women in the state, “not just appointing women into key positions, but it is about empowering them to do what they are supposed to do in order to move our society forward”.
He explained that the state government is driven by women, who cut across the three arms of government “and as a gender  friendly governor as we can see, the number two citizen in the state is a woman, the Deputy governor, who is the driving force behind Governor Nyesom Wike and also two arms of government are headed by women”.  He challenged women to speak for their rights, adding that deprived and poor women should be assisted through empowerment programmes and promised that his government would continue to place women at the pride of place in every decision that they take.
In her key note address, the wife of the Governor, Justice Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom Wike, while expressing her extreme delight with the great turn out of women , said women are the super-structure, the strong pillar for growth and the development of human race.
Similarly, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr (Mrs) Ipalibo Harry Banigo felicitated with Rivers women. She urged Rivers women, as role models to justify the public offices or positions entrusted to them as co-drivers’ in the Governor Nyesom Wike’s-led administration.
She challenged women to be more vocal on issues of violence against them, obnoxious traditional practices and all forms of discrimination perpetrated against women in the society.
In his address, the chairman of the occasion, Nimi Walson Jack, said that one permanent feature of a developing economy is active participation of the women, adding that the task of fighting against disparity should not be left for women alone, but men must join in ensuring equality for all, while promising that the male folk would assist to ensure that this task was achieved.
Highlights of the event were matchpast competition by various women groups, special performance by the Taekwando Association, drama presentation by the Rivers State Council for Arts and Culture, catching the train, among others.
Okrika and Oyigbo local government areas took first positions in the matchpast and catching the train respectively.  They went  home with Her Excellency’s Award.

Calista Ezeaku & Sussan Serekara-Nwikhana